Two Loves
by Queen Of Gabb 488
Summary: AU Phoebe is killed by the Source, leaving Prue and Piper to mourn her death and discover a family secret.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey guys, I know I am in the middle of writing two other stories for Secret Circle and Charmed that haven't been finished but when inspiration strikes you need to go with it. I will post a new chapter once a week...I'm thinking Sundays. Please read and review.

Prue flipped the pages of the book looking for the next spell in a long line of ones she had already cast. Her long black hair was pulled back from her face in a messy ponytail, quite unlike her usual put together self. Then again, Phoebe had just joined the ranks of lost loved ones in the war between good and evil. Her once alabaster skin was now ruddy and swollen as the tears she had shed now dried on her face. Prue made no pretenses about wiping them away. The tears would serve to remind her of her goals and her purpose as she gathered the herbs to once again cast her magic.

"Prue," a voice echoed from the bottom of the stairs. Tearing her gaze from the Book of Shadows Prue half expected Phoebe to cross the threshold.

Piper reached the top step and entered the attic, and the fantasy that had played out in her mind for mere seconds came crashing down around her. The eldest Halliwell couldn't bear the weight of all her hopes anymore and her head fell forward into her hands as Piper bent down to embrace her older sister.

"What are you doing," Piper asked her sister while brushing Prue's bangs out of her eyes. "We have cast every spell the Book has. We can't bring her back," Piper unleashed her own batch of tears as her body shook with the painful confession.

Prue pushed herself out of her Piper's arms. "Do you really think that I don't know that," she demanded. Sorrow had stepped aside and now anger was raging in its host. "What are you really trying to say right now?"

"Prue," Piper barely whispered. "I'm not trying to say anything we don't already know. Magic has failed us." She slammed the book shut, and gathered all the strength her voice had. "It's like the book abandoned us and neither of us knows _why!_ It cannot be undone," Piper approached Prue again, who took several steps back from her.

"That's not what you really think. The book didn't abandon us; magic didn't fail us," she began to shout and crushed her hand to her chest. "_I _failed. That's what you want to say, right? I wasn't strong enough, I wasn't fast enough, I wasn't _powerful enough_ and _I let her die_," Prue accused her. "That's what you really want to say, right?"

"_Prue—" _Piper turned as Prue stormed out of the attic, back straight and neck tense. Moving to the altar, she grabbed the Book of Shadows and put it back on its podium and let out a bitter scoff as she looked at the triquetra. Her hand wiped away fresh tears and she sighed.

"Phoebe will never forgive us if we look like crap at her funeral," she said to herself and for a second she felt as if she had stolen the words from someone else's mouth.

Piper crossed the attic and grabbed the door, locking it after her.

* * *

The morning of the funeral was chaotic to say the least. Piper was in the kitchen coping the only way she knew; by cooking the food they would serve later when the guests arrived. As she cooked, she thought about how lucky she was that Prue was as responsible as she was.

When the Angle of Death had told Prue that she had been on his list, she had insisted that the three of them sit down with a lawyer and draw up their last will and testaments. It was the only reason why matters of the house and club had been settled so quickly and now the only thing left to do would be to lay Phoebe to rest.

The youngest remaining Halliwell thought about that. Laying Phoebe to rest. Piper hoped that Phoebe was resting in peace with their mother and Grams, but she knew that Phoebe's death would haunt her until the day she died. Thinking back on last night's fight with Prue, Piper wished that she had told Prue what she was really thinking. Prue wasn't the failure; Piper was.

In the battle against Shax, Prue had thrown herself in front of their innocent and had nearly died saving him. Prue had saved his life at the cost of her own. It was Piper who had failed; failed to freeze the innocent before Shax succeeded in throwing him through a window; before she let him throw her through the conservatory wall just like he had Prue.

Piper threw her oven rag down. There would be time later to think of how she had failed as a witch and a sister. Now she had to focus on getting Prue and her father through the funeral without having a complete meltdown herself.

* * *

Prue jiggled the knob and was frustrated to find that Piper had locked up the attic. It appeared that Piper's way of dealing with the latest tragedy was to renounce magic altogether but Prue couldn't do that. If she couldn't find a way to save her youngest sister than there was only one other thing she could do to make it up to Phoebe's memory.

Stepping back, Prue motioned her hand as if she was turning a lock and the door flew open. Her hair recently cut just above the shoulder with new side bangs, the put together manor in which Prue's dress portrayed her was in complete contrast to the air of power and fury that seeped from her pores.

Long strides carried her to the podium where she found the Book of Shadows resting. Randomly opening the book, she flipped the pages until she found the summoning spell and began reciting,

"…Be he far or be he near, bring me the demon Belthazor here," her voice commanded.

Cole appeared bloody and bruised and Prue barely reached him in time to cushion his fall. His black robes were ripped to shreds and she could tell that whoever had done this had nearly succeeded in killing him.

"Why am I here," he asked. Prue had never heard him like this before. He was a shell of the man Phoebe had loved and you could hear it in his voice that he was shattered.

"I can't save my sister," Prue told him. "But I can fulfill her last wish. Phoebe went down to the underworld to save you, and she almost succeeded."

"The potion worked," he reminded her. "The Brotherhoods' hold over me was broken."

"Maybe so, but you're far from saved," her face became stern. "The Source has bounty hunters looking for you everywhere and the only reason none have shown up yet is because he thinks he has something to celebrate far more important than you."

"Phoebe's death," he said and knew from the scowl on her face that he was right. He allowed her to pick him up off the floor, and for a minute while he gathered his strength Cole leaned against her and looked down in her eyes. He couldn't help but be reminded of the time they had traveled to another plane to stop a time loop.

"He may have been able to kill her, but I will be damned if I let him kill her love," Prue told him. "And bless Phoebe's heart but she was thinking too small with that potion," she said and moved to the trunk that held their ceremonial tools and took out Melinda Warren's blessing cup.

"I thought that was destroyed when Phoebe destroyed the stripping potion," Cole said surprised.

"Well, apparently someone thought we would be needing it again," she told him. "I found it last night and realized what I have to do. The ingredients are all here, I just need to know that this something that you want."

"You didn't think that this could wait? Phoebe's funeral—"

"Is not for another couple of hours and you deserve to be there to say goodbye, too. I can't take the chance that bounty hunters will show up for you even though we all know you'll be harder to track in a cemetery. I just need to know that this is what you want."

"What will I do after?"

Prue's face smiled for the first time in days, though it was bittersweet. "You can figure that out," and paused a beat, "here."

They locked eyes and Cole nodded. "Okay," he said and Prue gathered everything to begin their work.

* * *

Victor stared at the mantle. His daughters had grown up without a father because of him. He had been too weak to fight for them and when he had gathered his strength Phoebe, his baby girl, had been the one to welcome him with open arms.

Where had he been when this was happening? Victor had accepted, although begrudgingly, that his girls had a destiny far greater than what he could ever wrap his mind around. They were in constant danger and where was he?

He picked up a portrait of Phoebe that must have been taken when she was around seven years old. Her smile was so wide that you could see the missing teeth in the front and back of her mouth. That big, toothy grin might be the thing he missed most though Victor would never have a favorite among his daughters; he loved them all in different ways.

Prue would always be his pride and joy, even if he had to work the hardest to have hers. Piper reminded him the most of his ex-wife because of her quite determination and nurturing streak. _And Phoebe_—Victor put the portrait down as he began to cry in a way that a man should never have to—Phoebe would always be his model of how to love, because she had accepted him into her life without punishing him for how he had ruined hers and her sisters' childhoods.

Feeling a hand rubbing his back, he turned to find Piper lending him the strength he would need to get through this day. Hugging her, he pressed a kiss into her hair. "I'm just glad that I didn't lose you, too," he told her.

"We have to get going," Piper told her father and they began walking to the foyer just in time to see Prue and Cole walking down the staircase.

"What is _he _doing here," Victor demanded and Prue stood in front of Cole with a protective arm thrown between her late sister's love and their father.

Hollow, her voice suddenly didn't seem like her own, "I summoned him," Prue told them.

"Phoebe died—"

"You have no idea why Phoebe died," she yelled at her father. "You weren't there, although that isn't exactly unusual now is it?"

"Prue," Piper begged, "don't. It's not Dad's fault."

"And it's not Cole's either. Phoebe died because the Source of all Evil killed her. The last thing she wanted was to save Cole and that's what I've done."

Leo came wandering in from the kitchen and stood behind Piper. "What do you mean," he asked.

Prue straightened her back and stood tall. "I gave him the power stripping potion that Phoebe tried to give him before the Brotherhood tainted him. He's human now."

"That makes him an innocent," Leo told Victor and looked at his wife.

"Which means that Phoebe would want us to protect him," she said quietly to her father. "I know this is hard for you, but Cole was the most important person in Phoebe's life. She loved him like you loved Mom. He deserves to be here," Piper gave in.

Victor held back his last tears and bit his lip. "Okay," he said. "Let's go see her off."

They left the manor together and shut the double doors, unaware of the visitor that stood among them.

* * *

"_It's so different," Phoebe gloried in the afterlife. Turning back to her mother and Grams she asked, "Are we always here or is there more out there?"_

"_There's more," Patty said and watched her daughter with wonder. She hadn't expected Phoebe's transition to be this easy but the truth was her daughter had always had an inner peace; it was just hidden by the radiance of her personality. _

_Phoebe continued to wander through the manor, looking at photographs and family antiques. "Is this how you're able to watch over them? You just stay in the manor all of the time?"_

"_Not all of the time," Grams explained. "Sometimes we visit others we've lost along the way like parents and friends. Still, we all have a vested interest in the Charmed ones," Penny waved at the other ancestors who remained among the manor. Some were sitting and others standing with needlework as they reminisced together._

"_I mean, I always knew that you and mom were around but I didn't realize our entire line was here watching over us. Does that mean it's not always one of you turning the pages in the book?"_

"_We all have our areas of expertise," Patty told her daughter. "And we alternate looking over you girls. It brings them such pride to watch you grow and sorrow to see you fall."_

"_Is that why they were all there to greet me?"_

_Grams moved to Phoebe's side. "Don't forget my darling, that we are a strong line of mothers, daughters, sisters and friends. You come from them, and you are their daughter as surely as you are your mother's. In times of need they stood among you, protecting and guiding you without your knowledge until they have the opportunity to be reborn." _

"_And I can do the same for Piper and Prue?"_

"_If that is what you wish," Patty told her. "This is your afterlife and you can choose to do with it what you please until the time comes when you can join your sisters again." _

"_And what will happen to them," she said gazing at the door they just left through. "If they're not Charmed any longer will they be able to keep each other safe?"_

_Penny and Patricia looked at each other before one of their ancestors stood from her chair and they parted to allow her through. _

"_My dear Phoebe," Helena said, "you're sisters will fare alright," and took Phoebe's hand to lead her upstairs to the attic. "For unbeknownst to them and unto you, there is another in the Charmed circle who is meant to take your place." _

"_Another sister," she asked distraught and looked back to her mother who was following them. _

"_It's true, Phoebe. You have a little sister named Paige," Patty told her and they entered the attic. "It happened after your father left—"_

"_Sam," she whispered. "But how will they find her? I mean, you must have bound her powers when she was born like you did with us."_

_Helena led her to the Book of Shadows and suddenly other ancestors appeared in ghostly fashions surrounding her. "With a little help," she told Phoebe and began flipping through the pages._

* * *

Paige didn't have the nerve to go up to them at the funeral. The last thing she wanted to do was to add to their grief at a time like this. Still, when she had heard about the gathering at the house it was as if someone was at her shoulder giving her a nudge.

Staring up at the large Victorian Mansion, Paige wondered what it would have been like to grow up here with the sisters. Silly, seeing as she wasn't even sure that they were her even related to her. Still, the past year of observing them at P3 had made it impossible to deny the resemblance to the Halliwell sisters. What would it have been like to grow up here with them as the youngest sister?

"Only Phoebe would know," she told herself and was sad that she would never really get to know the other woman. Circumstances kept tearing them away from each other and Paige knew she shouldn't be here but her curiosity got the better of her.

Paige wanted to see where they had grown up; where her potential biological mother had raised them before she had passed away. Walking in, she basked in the feeling of returning to somewhere precious; as if she belonged here.

She gazed at the china and thought that it must have been in the family for a very long time and traced the floral pattern in it before joining the line to pick up food. It was truly amazing and once she filled her plate Paige walked around admiring family photographs. The one that caught her eye was one in the foyer in an antique frame of Prue, Piper and Phoebe out on the lawn.

_They just seem to belong,_ Paige thought and picked up the frame and touched the glass. _They must be heartbroken_.

Putting it down, Paige watched as Prue and Piper entered with whom Paige assumed was their father. _Our father,_ she pondered and for the first time it didn't feel right. Her instincts had always led her to believe it was true that they were her sisters but now they were screaming at her and she remembered that their parents had divorced before Patricia Halliwell had died in a very public drowning.

It left questions in her head that she knew would probably never be answered. _Who was her father; why had they given me up; do my sisters know about me; why didn't they want me?_

Turning away Paige wiped away a tear with her finger before heading up the stairs to find a restroom.

* * *

"_Prue,"_ wind blew through her hair and Prue turned quickly to see someone heading up the stairs. "Phoebe," she said before leaving the group to follow her sister.

Piper and Leo shared a look and followed her retreating back and Cole and Victor glanced at one another before following their lead.

* * *

Paige had only been trying to find the bathroom when she felt wind blowing through her hair and turned to find the source. No one was in the hallway and she was left assuming that there must be a window open somewhere. Certainly, no one had called her name; no one here knew her.

So when she heard someone whisper her name and light suddenly filled the hallway, Paige was compelled to follow it up the stairs even though it occurred to her that she shouldn't know where everything was considering she had never been in the house before.

"Phoebe!"

Paige heard someone calling out Phoebe's name but she was too engrossed in her own weird circumstances to break the connection to her that seemed to be coming from the attic. Jiggling the knob, she was upset to find it locked and turned to return downstairs.

Two steps down she heard the unmistakable sound of a door squeaking open and she stared over her shoulder to see if it had really opened. Shifting her weight to turn back toward the door, Paige entered the attic and followed the beam of light to what appeared to be a podium and opened the old weathered book sitting there.

"Here now the words of the witches…"

* * *

"Prue," Piper bit off between clenched teeth. "Where are you going," she managed to catch up and tap her sister on the shoulder.

"I saw her," Prue told her.

"You couldn't have Prue, she's dead!"

Piper and Prue stared at each other for the longest moment of their lives and Piper finally broke down. "Don' you get it? She's gone and she's not coming back, Prue. There's not enough magic in the world to bring Phoebe back."

"I know," Prue said, finally betraying the feelings she had tried to fight back into the darkness. "I know," she whispered again and hugged Piper fiercely. "But there is something at work here and I can feel her here. There must be something she's trying to tell us."

Piper rested her head on Prue's shoulder for a moment before retreating from her sister's embrace. "Okay," she wiped away fresh tears. "To the attic we go," Piper grabbed her hands and they walked up sided by side.

"That door should be locked," Prue said. "I locked it before we left for the funeral."

All of a sudden they felt the ground shake and steadied themselves against the wall, waiting for it to be over before they went any further. Once it was over they jogged the rest of the way to the attic and were shocked to find a stranger standing at the Book of Shadows.

"_The Power of Three,"_ Phoebe's voice rang in the air.

Prue and Piper turned to see if Phoebe was there when they heard her again. "_Your destiny still awaits." _

They turned back to the stranger and Prue pointed at her. "Hi, _who_ are you?"

Paige stepped away from the book. "I'm—I mean," she stammered, "I'm Paige," she said gathering her wits. "Paige Matthews."


	2. Chapter 2

Dust floated in the streaming light like a long forgotten memory finally waking up. Prue and Piper stared at the strange woman standing in front of them and wondered what kind of magic was at work here. They still didn't understand what Phoebe meant.

Paige stepped toward them and began fidgeting with her hands. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to add to your grief right now. I'll just go," trying to run past Prue who held out a hand, blocking her from leaving.

"What do you mean 'add to our grief'? Who are you?"

Paige looked back from Prue and Piper and to the other observers before letting out a huge sigh. "I think I might be your sister," she said watching Piper's jaw drop and Prue's eyes narrow.

* * *

Prue was flipping through the book while Piper placed the candles in a circle, leaving Leo to deal with Paige.

"I should just go," Paige said and tried to get up. "I don't belong here—"

"If you're their sister and a Charmed one then you belong here," Leo told her in a gentle voice. "What makes you think that you're related to the sisters?"

"My parents died when I was in high school and a few years ago I decided to find my birth family," Paige told him. "I went to the church where I was abandoned and talked to the nuns and one of them remembered the Halliwells. I looked into it but I realized that their mom died a long time ago so I just left it alone."

Cole looked at this girl and searched her face for clues. There was a striking resemblance between her and Prue that couldn't be denied. "Why did you decide to come today?"

Paige closed her eyes and kept back the tears that were threatening to escape. "I saw the obituary, and I guess I just felt as if a part of me lost her too. I know I didn't know her; I'm sorry—"

"Don't," Cole said. "Phoebe would like to know that. She loved her sisters and she would have loved you, too."

"Can I just ask, what are they doing?" Paige nodded toward Prue and Piper.

"Well, you read the incantation in the front of the book, right?" Paige nodded and Leo continued. "I know this is a lot to take in, but you come from a long line of witches."

"Like Harry Potter," she joked. "Sorry, sarcasm is my coping mechanism."

"Well, she's definitely a Halliwell," Victor said to himself. He still wasn't really taking in everything that was going on. They had only just buried his youngest daughter and already they were discovering that there was another to take her place. He had hoped that Phoebe's death would at least give Prue and Piper some kind of an out to lead normal lives.

"There is a prophecy about three sisters who would be the strongest force of good magic and they would be known as the Charmed ones, and the spell you did was one that would unleash your powers," Leo told her.

"Now," Cole said taking the lead, "there are only supposed to be three sisters and as far as anyone knew it was Prue, Piper and Phoebe. For you to be their sister means that your mother and Grams were hiding you not just from us but everyone, and Prue and Piper are going to summon them to find out why."

"They can summon the dead," Paige asked. "I'm sorry, this just all sounds a little weird and by weird I mean crazy."

"Look," Leo took her hand and Paige's eyes dilated.

"_We're known as the Charmed Ones. We're the protectors of the innocent," Phoebe called after Piper. _

The image shifted and Paige saw a woman cradling a baby in a familiar blanket, one the nuns had given her when she had gone to ask about her birth parents.

"_I can't do this, Sam," Patty wept as she held her newborn daughter to her chest. "I can't just leave her in the hands of strangers." _

"_I know it's hard," he said embracing her and their child. "But if we don't she will be in danger from both sides." Tilting her head so she would look up at him, he continued. "This blessing is not supposed to exist and if anyone finds out about her than she and her sisters will all be in danger. We don't know what the elders will do and we cannot risk them recycling her soul." _

"_Everything happens for a reason," Patty cried. "She was meant to be here with her sisters!"_

"_Everything happens for a reason," he agreed, "like the prophecy only speaking of three sisters. Maybe it is so she can lead a normal life. You once said you would rather love your daughters as living mortals than have to mourn them as dead witches. I already know how much you love her; how much _we_ love her."_

"Paige," Leo said again trying to get her attention. "Did you just have a premonition?"

"A premonition," she asked.

"Phoebe could see the future and the past too sometimes," Leo answered.

"Then yeah," she said still a little taken aback. "I think I saw the past; why I was given up."

"It didn't look like one of Phoebe's premonitions," Cole said out loud. "What did you see?"

"I think I saw our mother and my father. She called him Sam."

Leo looked at Victor and then back to Paige. "That would be your mother's whitelighter," and started to explain at her perplexed expression. "They're mortals who died doing something good, and are offered the chance to come back and guide other witches and future whitelighters. It's like a guardian angel, and it would also make you half-whitelighter."

"No wonder they wanted to keep you a secret," Cole told her. "Relationships between whitelighters and their charges are strictly forbidden. Except of course for Leo and Piper."

"So they had to give me up," Paige said.

"They didn't have to do anything Paige," Prue said walking over. "They made a choice and it was the wrong one. You belonged here, with us."

Taking her hand, Prue helped Paige up from her seat and guided her to the book. "This is our Book of Shadows. It's a family heirloom with spells and information that our ancestors wrote and collected. It's very special and it's going to allow us to summon our mother. We just need you to say the spell with us."

"Hear these words; hear my cry, spirit from the other side. Come to me, I summon thee; Cross now the great divide," they finished and Penny and Patty appeared.

"My baby," Patty whispered and crossed over taking a human form. "Oh, my darling, you're home," she cried and embraced her. "You're home."

"Girls," Grams said and followed her daughters lead, stepping through to the physical plane. "Paige, you're a beauty," she said grasping her chin. "You're a dead ringer for my mother; you have her eyes, too."

"Grams," Prue said as the moment passed. "You have some explaining to do."

"Girls," Patty turned to them, "I know you're upset especially because of everything that's happened since you've lost Phoebe, but learning about another sister, becoming charmed again is your destiny. Paige was always meant to find her way home," she said rubbing Paige's arm up and down. "Phoebe was so happy to lead you here," Patty told her.

"Phoebe?" Piper smiled. "Of course she was," shaking her head.

"Still, there is something you must do," Grams said. "The Source will eventually learn of her existence and he will try to break the Charmed circle again."

"Over Phoebe's dead body," Prue said. "She's not going to let that happen just as much as we won't."

"You have everything you need," Patty said. "Form your bond and avenge your sister." Stepping back into the circle with her mother, they became pure spectral light again. "Be angry, cry at it but don't fight your destiny. As always, we will be by your side protecting you as best we can."

"Be good to each other," Grams said. "Blessed be."

Prue and Piper took Paige by the hand and led her out of the attic. "Come on, Phoebe will never forgive us if we don't give her a proper send off," Prue told her. "You can stand with us and we can talk once everyone leaves."

They walked down stairs and the room became very quiet at the sight of the sisters. Darryl approached them and was accompanied by Inspector Lopez.

"I'm sorry about this, but Inspector Lopez wanted to drop by," he said.

"Is this about Phoebe," Prue asked and her eyes began to swell again.

"I just wanted to offer my condolences. I'm going to do everything I can to catch this monster."

Prue took an audible breath in and wiped her tears with a tissue. "Thank you," she said. "I want this bastard to pay for what he did," steely determination hiding the fact that she knew more than what she was letting on.

"If I could just talk to you about your sister's whereabouts the night of—"

"Not now," Darryl stepped in and glared down at the homicide inspector.

"Of course. Here's my card," he said handing it to Prue. "If you can just call with a time that's good for you I will be happy to work around your availability."

"Thank you," she said and held onto it.

"May I ask, who you are," Lopez stared at Paige.

"I'm Paige Matthews," she said looking to Prue and Piper for some idea of what to do.

"And how did you know Phoebe?"

"Paige is our sister," Prue said stepping forward. "And I would really appreciate," she bit off harshly, "if we could do this at some other time. We just buried our sister," she reminded him.

"Of course," he looked at her warily. "Just give me a call," he said and turned to leave. "Are you coming Morris?"

"They're family friends. I'm staying," Daryl bit off.

"I'll see you back at the station," Lopez told him before leaving.

* * *

The last guests left and Piper busied herself with cleaning while Prue made up plates for everyone. No one had seemed to have been able to eat earlier and they were going to sit down together. Victor and Daryl had left and Prue had to remind Cole that he didn't have any powers to stop her from making him stay.

"How did you know Phoebe," Paige asked him.

"She was the love of my life," he answered before taking a sip of the Irish coffee Prue had made for him.

Paige's mouth opened in horror and she couldn't stop apologizing. "I am _so _sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I suppose I should have known better than to think that the fates would allow us to be together," he wallowed.

"What do you mean," she asked.

"I used to be a demon," Cole responded and just stared when she laughed.

"Oh, you're serious. What the hell have I gotten myself into?"

"For what it's worth, I think you're strong enough to handle this. You haven't gone running yet," he reminded her.

"Don't think I won't," she joked. "I'm still freaking out."

"Well, better to freak out with us," Prue said joining them. "I know it's a lot to take in but right now the safest place for you is with us. Now that you know about the Source and—"

"And how he wants to kill me? I'll take my chances here. I mean, you're gonna vanquish him anyway so I'll be safe soon, right? What are a few days?" Prue and Cole shared a look and Paige became suspicious. "What aren't you guys telling me?"

"Paige, we can't go up against the Source just yet. You're not versed in your powers and our bond is too weak. It might be months before we're ready to take him out."

"What am I supposed to do all that time? Sublet my apartment and move in," she cried.

"I know it's a lot to decipher, but we're strongest when we're together and you need to learn how to control your powers."

"You guys just lost Phoebe and Piper can barely look me in the eyes and I'm supposed to give up my whole life to be super witch," she exploded. "Sorry, not me. Can't do it," Paige said standing from the breakfast table in the kitchen.

Striding toward the foyer Paige reached for the front door when it was slammed shut all of a sudden. Turning, she saw Prue holding out her hand and yelled, "That's not fair! You know I don't have a power to use against you."

"Sounds like Phoebe," Leo said sadly.

"What the hell is going on here," Piper got off the couch and moved to stand between her two sisters.

"You can't stop me from leaving," Paige yelled at Prue.

"Do you _want_ to die like Phoebe?" Suddenly everyone shut up.

"It's not cool to guilt trip me," Paige said and her anger dissolved.

"It's what sisters do," Prue told her. "We also keep one another safe and if you leave there is a very good chance that I might have to bury another sister."

"You don't even know me," Paige whispered.

"And I won't if you get yourself killed because you're too stubborn for your own good."

Prue and Paige engaged in a staring contest until Paige gave in. "Fine. I don't have to stay in the basement, do I?"

"We'll find a place for you," Piper said, her eyes glued to the floor. All she could think about was the fact that they hadn't even had the chance to go through Phoebe's stuff yet and they were already giving her room away. They hadn't even had time to mourn her passing.

Prue walked over to her and put an arm around her shoulder. She knew it wouldn't be easy for Paige to go from being an only child to the youngest in the blink of an eye and she could tell from the serious pout on her face that she didn't like having to give in on the matter of abandoning her independence for sisterhood.

"For now you can share my room and you can barrow some clothes for work tomorrow so you don't have to go back to your apartment," Prue told her and led her upstairs.

"It's okay," Paige whined. "I always keep clothes in my trunk," she said. Prue pursed her lips and gave Paige a look that said 'Do I want to know?' and Paige laughed. "I keep them there because I'm accident prone and always spilling coffee on my clothes. I can't exactly convince my boss to promote me to social worker if I'm walking around looking like a slob."

Prue pushed her door open and ushered Paige in before moving to her armoire and took out pajamas for Paige. "The bathroom is across the hall. There are spare tooth brushes in the medicine cabinet."

Paige nodded and came back in the floral chemise with her hair pulled into a high ponytail. She moved to the other side of the bed and climbed in. "What's that," she asked Prue, who had a large leather bound book in her lap.

Prue smiled sadly and moved the album so Paige could look. "It's a family album. We have dozens of them in the attic starting from the early 1900s when our family first moved into the manor," Prue told her and turned the page. "This is mom," she pointed out and flipped a page. "And this is mom reading a story to Piper. She's the one who looks the most like mom," Prue digressed.

"I think Phoebe looked like her the most," Paige said. "Same high cheek bones, same coloring; look, they even have the same smile," Paige laughed and pointed to a photo of their late sister.

"That's a family trait," Piper said from the doorway and Prue and Paige turned to look at her.

Piper chuckled. "You two are mirror images," she walked over with a tray of hot chocolate and vanilla shortbread cookies and sat on the bread. The middle sister still felt awkward around Paige and Piper supposed that was normal, it was just that Prue seemed to take a shining to her immediately and Piper didn't know how to.

Prue and Piper shared a sad smile before showing Paige more family photos and sharing stories.

* * *

_Phoebe stood over Piper's shoulder and for the first time it hit her. Her life was over. _

_Her life was over and her sisters' could soon follow suit if they didn't do something drastic. Yet she looked at them, paying close attention to Paige as if trying to memorize her face, and knew that beyond her feelings of sadness for herself that somehow their destiny would protect them. They might not know it, but they were already doing exactly what they needed to. They were accepting Paige, even if it meant letting go of Phoebe. _

_Kneeling besides Piper, Phoebe finally let herself mourn everything she had lost and left behind as her sisters began to pick up the pieces from the latest catastrophe and mourn their loss with Paige; forming a new bond and relinquishing an old one. _


	3. Chapter 3

It was quiet, Piper thought and a wistful expression crossed her face. Prue was out on assignment and Paige was working overtime at South Bay Social Services.

Stepping over the threshold into the manor, the second eldest hesitated before flipping the switch, and memories assaulted her, from her childhood with Phoebe all the way to her death in a matter of seconds. Keys hit the foyer table and her purse dropped to the floor. Her gaze fixated on Phoebe's senior portrait.

Prue had put it up days ago, hanging on the wall that had nearly killed them both when Shax had thrown them through it weeks ago. Tears streamed, and her hand flew to her face to desperately try to extinguish the sobs. Phoebe had been going through her rebellious phase back then but somehow Grams had managed to get Phoebe to take a nice photo.

"She must have worked her magic," Piper joked to herself, knowing full well that their Grams was completely capable of casting a spell to get Phoebe to do her will. Hearing the door swing open, Piper brushed her tears away and heard Prue.

"Piper," she gently said and pulled her into a hug. She didn't know what to say anymore.

"I can't do this anymore," Piper cried and Prue hugged her. "I can't keep seeing her face everywhere and knowing –knowing, that it's my fault," her voice broke.

"Oh, Piper," Prue held her and walked her back and forth. "It's not your fault," she reassured her.

"I just miss her _so much_," she cried and they stood there, locked in each other's embrace as their grief crept back out from the place it had laid hidden.

Paige's head rested against the door frame as she watched Piper and Prue comfort each other over their loss. A single tear fell down her cheek and she quietly turned back to the kitchen door and left the way she came.

* * *

Paige hadn't been to see them in months. She was ashamed at how long she had gone without bringing by flowers, and it was late otherwise Paige would have brought some tonight.

A laugh escaped as a thought occurred to her; maybe a witch alone in a cemetery under a full moon was asking for something freaky to happen.

"So much has changed since you guys died," Paige kneeled to the grass and pressed her hands to the cool marble. "I never meant to make you feel as if I didn't love you, or if you were any less my parents because you were. But so much has changed," she said, managing to keep herself from bawling.

"I found my birth family," she laughed through the tears as Paige relied on defense mechanisms to carry her through this grievous moment. "I thought I couldn't lose anymore than I already had and in the manner of twenty-four hours I've lost another mother and a sister and probably my sanity. What do I do," Paige whispered, and realized that she was waiting for a response she would never get. Wind brushed past her hair and a shiver rolled down her back. It was almost sweet and tender, as if some force out there was trying to comfort her.

* * *

When she got home, Paige unlocked the huge double doors to the manor and was surprised to see Piper and Prue still up at two o'clock in the morning. She threw her keys and purse down before taking off her short, burnt orange blazer and hanging it up.

It was unusual for her to be so dressed down, as Paige was the type to wear loud pops of color and short skirts with shoes she knew she couldn't afford; today, or rather yesterday, she had opted for skinny jeans, a white v-neck tee and keds. The weight of the day had taken its toll on her and there wasn't enough enthusiasm in her life to put effort into her style at the moment.

"Hey," Piper said wistfully. "We were wondering when you were gonna show up." Sniffling, she wiped her nose with a tissue and Paige could see the red splotches from earlier that evening.

While Piper hadn't been rude or cold –and Paige gave the woman credit for trying to be friendly after losing Phoebe—it was obvious that it took more than she had in her to accept a long lost sister into the fold. At her beckoning, Paige shuffled into the conservatory and threw herself back into the couch directly across from her sisters.

Sisters. It was such a strange word. Actually, the entire notion was strange and alien to her. It had been three weeks since Phoebe's funeral and she still felt like a fog was hanging over her and there was no shining light to guide her to where she was supposed to go. Folding one leg under her ass, she let the other hang over the couch as she finally allowed herself to recognize that exhaustion was dogging her every step.

"I had someplace I needed to be," the youngest one said cryptically. "You know, things to do and people to see."

Prue smiled. "Sounds like Phoebe. I used to wonder how her schedule was so jam packed considering—"

Prue frowned and cut herself off. "I've always been a worker," she said suddenly turning to Paige. "I don't know if that's just me or something Grams ingrained into me," Prue's eyes began to water and she shook her head, biting her lip. "Phoebe, though," Prue chuckled, "she was the life of the party. Always had tons of friends; even strangers felt drawn to her. And I gave her so much crap about it," and for the first time since Paige had known her, Prue sobbed openly.

Piper reached for her sister and hugged Prue to her body while Paige shot up from her seat to sit at Prue's feet, holding onto her as she rested her head on her eldest sister's knees. "I was wondering when you were going to let go," she said more to herself than the others.

"I was so har—hard on her; I never," she cried, "told her how proud I was," Prue trembled against her sisters' hold.

"She knew," Piper said and rubbed her sister's back, and they sat there together, facing their sorrow.

* * *

When she came down for breakfast Paige was dressed in a black pencil skirt, a sleeveless coral blouse with a high collared neck that buttoned in the front and had a racer back, and Jimmy Choo pumps with her hair slicked back in elegant up do, taking a page from Prue's professional style. A little more class might just help her earn a promotion to social worker at South Bay.

Cole was sitting at the kitchen table directly across from Prue, while Piper served him a plate of eggs over a pile of pancakes.

"Yech," she joked. "Egg yolk and pancake; no way, sir!"

"Yeah," Prue agreed playfully, "but to each their own."

"Says the woman who drinks coffee strong enough to vanquish demons," Cole replied.

"Not you," Paige reminded him.

Prue tucked her chin down and avoided their gazes; "He's not a demon anymore," she reminded everyone and the joking demeanor suddenly turned into a moment of silence.

"I didn't mean—"Paige tried to apologize when Cole interrupted her.

"That's okay, Paige. Besides," he said on a bright note, "it's nice to know that everyone thinks of me as being too strong to be vanquished by Prudence Halliwell, first born witch and eldest Charmed one. Gives me an edge," he winked and Paige released the breath she was holding.

Sitting, she grabbed a banana and peeled it, dipping it into her coffee and not noticing the very strange looks passing between her sisters and Cole.

"And you made fun of me for my yolk soaked eggs," he chuckled and stole a section of the paper from Prue.

"Hmm?" Paige murmured in between chewing her banana.

"Never mind," Piper said. "Here's your breakfast. Don't forget you guys are meeting me for lunch," she reminded her sisters.

"I'll be there," Prue moved to the counter to refill her mug. "Do you want me to pick you up, Paige?"

"I was thinking I would just orb in," she said and wedged herself in between her sisters to put her plate in the sink, walking to the foyer when Piper and Prue ran in front of her and kept her from leaving for work.

Piper and Prue bumped into each other as they blocked her exit. Pointing, Piper demanded, "Spill!"

"It's nothing," Paige sighed. "It's just, you know, I've been practicing my orbing in my spare time since there is a very likely possibility that the Source of all Evil will be trying to end me."

"I can't even get you to sit down for a potions lesson," Piper said.

"Powers _are_ more fun," Prue said to her. "How long have you been able to orb to another place? Last I checked you still needed to be scared."

"I don't know," Paige said. "I started two weeks ago, and it took me a week to figure out orbing in place and once I had that down it was easier to start thinking of other places I wanted to be. I started with something close by and started playing around with it. Plus," she began, "I was gonna be late to work a couple of times and it came in handy," she said grabbing her keys and purse, throwing a blazer over her arm.

Piper harrumphed, "Well, just make sure you show up on time. I don't want to lose our reservations."

"I'll be there," Paige yelled as she ran out the door.

Piper turned to Prue. "I wonder how long it will take her to get healing down. That could come in handy."

"Don't jinx us," Prue chastised. "We've been able to hold demonic attacks at bay but now that he's had time to regroup you'd better believe the Source has some kind of plan of attack."

"All the more reason for you to go big sister on her ass and get her to take my potions class," Piper said, solemnly. "I don't want to lose another sister," and she walked back to the kitchen.

Prue stood there, alone. "Me either."

* * *

_Phoebe stood by the stairs, watching as her sisters began to fit into each other's lives. Piper was still hesitant where Paige was concerned, but Phoebe was glad to see they were trying to make things work. Now her concern was Cole. _

_That was when she was her saddest. She wanted to hold him again, to cling to him like she had when good and evil was tearing them apart. The only happiness she had was in knowing that he was free, even if he wasn't at rest. _

_Prue had done that for him, or more importantly, she had done it for Phoebe. That made her love her sister even more, knowing that the woman who had raised her and guided her through the most tumultuous events in her life was looking after the only man she had ever loved. _

_Now she just hoped that she could keep them safe from following in her footsteps._

* * *

Prue held onto the railing as she and Cole went down to her darkroom and flipped the light switch when she reached the bottom. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she reached for her camera and instructed Cole to sit against the blue background.

"Are you sure that you can do this," he asked.

"It should be easy. Now sit up straight."

"I mean the whole personal gain thing. This isn't exactly legal, Prue."

Prue put the camera down and fidgeted with her hands, picking her cuticles. "Look," she said smacking her hands together, "I know this is hard for you, facing life as a mortal considering you're over a hundred years old," crossing her eyes at the thought of his true age, "and I would love nothing more than to get your identity back for you but as it is, you are still the subject of an investigation and it will be much easier to give you a chance at a normal human life by assuming a new identity.

"Now, magic used for that purpose is personal gain. I get it," she held up a hand when he tried to interrupt her, "but luckily for you I know people in law enforcement—"

"Darryl," he said and shut up at the look she gave him.

"—who can help us with this. I don't know why you're not taking this seriously."

"Prue, I was a lawyer," he told her. "Do you know how many laws we're going to be breaking? You're talking about forging legal documents, identity theft—"

"We're using your father's name—"

"—and hacking into federal and state databases. How the hell is Darryl pulling this off?"

"He's pulling a few favors from friends in high places. They think you're his informant," Prue shrugged. "We talked, and kind of figured it was a good way to protect all of us, since we get involved in a lot of his cases."

"Still, it seems like one of those soap operas that Piper likes to watch; I'm assuming the identity of a fake twin brother after the death of my girlfriend, for whom I am a possible suspect in her murder," he said with a dramatic voice.

"Yeah," she said giving that cocky side smile, "but I'm fairly certain those shows don't mention demonic hit men and warlocks. Are you ready to become Benjamin Coleridge Turner?"

"Let's hope I don't end up the same way he did."

"Married to and killed by a demon? Are you that ready to move on," she asked and suddenly realized she was interested in his answer. It hadn't occurred to her in the past month that there could ever be a woman out there that could take her sister's place in his life, and Prue found herself upset at the thought that Cole could actually love someone else after Phoebe.

"I don't think you have to worry about that. Phoebe was one of a kind," he said, and Prue felt a weight lift.

"Smile," and her camera flashed.

* * *

Prue set the alarm on her car and put her hand to her chest when she turned and Paige orbed in right in front of her. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

They linked arms and walked towards the building, perplexed at the lack of traffic. Prue stopped, halting Paige in the process. "Are we at the right place? This building looks abandoned."

They heard a car pull up and turned to find Piper driving over the gravel lot. Parking, she climbed out of her truck and walked up to her sisters.

"What was that about being late," Paige asked with a smug smile.

Piper gave a small smile. "Sorry, I was dealing with stuff at the club. Good thing it's only two minutes from here."

"Um, what exactly are we doing here," Paige asked. "No offense, but I thought we were getting lunch," she said as they walked into the building after Piper.

Piper walked over to the wall and flipped the switch. "We are," and Leo walked out with a large tray.

"Ladies, please take a seat as soup and salads are served."

"Piper, what's going on?" Prue looked stunned and Paige had never seen her thrown off balance, even during the rare demon attacks she had experienced.

The girls sat and Leo served them and poured wine. "I bought the building," Piper said.

"Excuse me? What happened to no big life changes," Prue asked.

"I decided a life change was necessary. The club is doing well, and since your career took off and we don't have to worry about the mortgage on the house and club anymore I thought it was finally time to open my own restaurant."

"How are you going to manage two businesses, Piper? I mean, we're solvent," Prue said, "and thank the lord for the fact that Grams took out life insurance on all of us because obviously your share of Phoebe's claim is making this possible, but you're only one person."

"I've thought of that, and I have a solution. Cole," Piper said. "I mean, Ben."

"What do you mean," Paige asked.

"He's agreed to run the club. He'll manage booking the bands I tell him to, which means the contracts because he has experience as a lawyer, as well as the paperwork and maintaining our liquor license, staff, etc. It'll give him something to do and I can trust him to do things the way I want."

"When will you open," Paige asked.

"I'm thinking four months. Leo will do the renovations which should be minor," Piper told them, "and I've already recruited my sous chef and my line chefs, and C—Ben has agreed to be the office manager here as well," tripping over his name.

"Well, I guess we could all use a new beginning," Prue said. "What will you call it?"

"I was thinking of calling it Sisters Three," she murmured. "You know, I named the club for you, me and Phoebe," Piper explained. "I thought it might be nice, you know, to name this place for us."

"That's really nice, Piper, but—"

"It's perfect," Prue said nudging the youngest one. "I think Phoebe would love it."

"To Phoebe," Paige offered a toast, and the sisters talked about their futures.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: You wanted more of Paige, so here it goes...

* * *

Piper was surprised when she entered the kitchen and didn't find her older sister reading the paper with a cup of coffee. For as long as she could remember Prue had always been the first one up and the last one down; a hard feat considering Phoebe was a club baby and used to stay up to the early hours of the morning.

Getting everything she needed, Piper began the task of starting breakfast for the Halliwell clan. Leo had left late last night to help a charge and he would come back ravenous as always.

Prue came in, her long raven hair sleek and modern in the inverted bob style she had selected right before Phoebe's funeral. Her side bangs created mystery as well as the smoky eye her makeup had created, though god knew Prue was always stunning. She was wearing her black leather jacket unzipped, with a fitted mint green tank top—100% silk, of course—with a killer pencil skirt and stilettos. It reminded Piper of how Prue used to dress to work at Bucklands but just a tad more young and hot.

Pushing the sleeves up, Prue headed toward the cupboard for a mug and poured herself a large coffee.

"Careful," Piper warned, "you'll burn yourself if you continue to drink like that."

"Sorry, but I'm late for work and I have a photo shoot that my boss forgot to inform me about until an hour ago," she placed her cup in the sink. "It doesn't help me to have a phone and a blackberry if he never contacts me like a normal human being would."

"It also doesn't help that we were up until three in the morning," the middle sister added. "I'm guessing you don't want breakfast."

"No, but maybe we can try brinner," Prue joked. "I'll see you later, after I convince my boss to get me a secretary!"

"Hi Prue, bye Prue," Paige said as she turned to watch her oldest sister jet. "What's up with her?"

"Oh, her boss forgot to tell her about a photo shoot and you know Prue, she can never be late."

Paige sat on a stool and stuck her hand in the batter before having her hand unceremoniously slapped by Piper. "Ow, what was that for," as if she really had to ask. She and Piper hadn't gotten as close as she and Prue had but she had seen a softer side to her last night. Paige just hoped they could continue to make progress.

"How many pancakes do you want," Piper asked, ignoring Paige's whine.

"Three, please."

Piper plated the pancakes and glanced over at Paige. "Are you off today?"

"Yeah, gotta love those weekends. I mean, the only good thing about not being a social worker is that I don't get emergency calls. Still, I wish my boss would hurry up and promote me. It's not like I don't have my masters degree in social work," she bitched.

"Do you have any plans," Piper asked trying to be stealth.

"Nope," the young witched slumped over the island. "All my friends are busy having lives."

"Well, I'm letting Cole get acquainted with P3 and the staff so I have the day off. Do you wanna spend the day together," Piper tried to ask without making it sound like a big deal.

"Like doing what," Paige was curious. Other than hanging out with her and Prue at P3, she didn't really know what Piper liked to do outside of Leo—_gross,_ she thought and nearly spit out her pancakes. Piper didn't really seem like the sister you talked about sex with.

"Well, I thought we could do lunch and go shopping. I also thought you might like to have a kind of "Charmed" tour of San Francisco. See where we go for potion ingredients and where we've fought some pretty nasty warlocks and demons."

"Like what?" Paige was intrigued at finding out more about her family history.

"Anything you want," Piper said. "Magic can be kind of a hassle when it gets in the way of having a normal life but it can also do some pretty amazing things. What do you want to start with?"

"I know I got to meet them at the—funeral," Paige stumbled, trying not to bring up something that so obviously hurt the other woman. "But it would be nice to really get a chance to meet our mom again."

Piper smiled as she tucked her chin down toward her chest. "Well then, let's go see what good magic can do."

* * *

Paige and Piper sat down at an old trunk and opened it, revealing a table cloth and long white tapered candles. Setting four up around the trunk, Piper lit the wicks and looked down to her lap where the Book of Shadows lay open.

"Hear my plea, hear my cry; spirit from the other side. Come to me, I summon thee; cross now the great divide."

Patricia appeared in dancing, shimmering light as a ghostly figure. "Oh, my girls," she held out a hand as if to touch them. "I've been waiting for you to realize the potential of this spell."

"You mean we're allowed to summon you more often," Piper asked her mother.

"Your Grams used to call on me once a week," Patty told her. "Mother kept me up to date on everything about you three," she said before turning to Paige. "Oh, how I used to watch over you."

"You did," Paige asked sounding like a child. "I grew out of it, I swear," she held her hands up and her mother laughed.

"Oh, my darling, I always knew you would. It gave me such joy to watch you, though I worried after your parents passed. I wanted so much to comfort you," she told her youngest daughter.

Piper was shocked. Of course she had realized that Paige would have been adopted but in the weeks following their introduction Piper had failed to ask any questions and had let Prue do all of the investigating for her.

She knew that Paige had an artistic streak like Prue, and was more of a free spirit like Phoebe, but Piper had never once asked about her life before finding out about being their sister. She wondered if Prue even knew about Paige's adopted parents' deaths and all of a sudden she realized what a rotten sister she had been.

Phoebe's death had been hard on all of them and here she was stuck in her grief so much that she couldn't or wouldn't take the time to take a good look at her new sister. There was all the time in the world to grieve for Phoebe. If she didn't try to get to know Paige now though they might never have the connection that Piper had with her other sisters.

* * *

Piper had let Paige and Patty talk the most. She remembered something Phoebe said once about always wishing for more time with their mother and immediately knew that was something all four of the Halliwell sisters had in common.

Afterwards they had gone out for lunch at a popular café and done a little shopping at a vintage thrift store where Paige found some killer nude pumps and talked Piper into buying a pendant she had been drawn to. She took the bag the clerk handed her before following Paige back to the street.

"What next," she asked.

"I don't know. I'm trying to think of someplace we could go that means almost as much to you guys as the manor but I can't think of one."

Piper stopped and turned to look at her sister. "I think I know someplace we can go."

They got out of Piper's truck and Paige found herself at what looked like a summer camp. "What is this place?"

Piper looked over her shoulder. "Come see," she said and took a step onto the dock before walking to the end.

Catching up, Paige looked at the lake and felt a shiver roll up her spine. "I don't know if I like it here. What is this place," she asked again.

"Prue and I used to go to summer camp here. It's also the place that has the most significance to us," she paused and took a breath, "because it's where we lost mom."

Befuddled, Paige took a step further on the dock. "What do you mean? I thought mom was killed by a demon."

"A water demon," Piper explained, "lurking in the water where it could wait for its next victim. We always just thought she drowned but a year ago or so, Prue was here. You know, apparently she comes up here to think sometimes and she saw the lake take its next victim."

"Wow. Why would Prue come here, though? Doesn't it have bad connotations for you?"

"Prue's always had it the toughest. She was the oldest so she remembered more of what was going on," Piper told her. "Unfortunately, she was here when mom died."

Paige looked shock. "Like she saw it?"

Piper nodded. "Well, she at least saw all of the commotion. We all were affected by mom's death. Phoebe lacked that bonding and she became a trouble maker. I kind of got lost in the shuffle," Piper said. "Grams always tried to make sure that I knew that she saw me but I knew that Prue and Phoebe needed the attention more.

"Prue…she had to sacrifice a lot. Maybe not even had to, but Grams made her. I guess she was worried about our destiny. Anyway, she's had a rough time letting people get close to her; especially men."

Paige found that curious. Prue had reached out to her right away. "But Prue is so…Prue."

Laughing, Piper passed Paige as she headed back to land. "That's the thing about her. No matter how much she holds people at bay, they still just seem to flock to her. I mean, she was prom queen and captain of the cheerleading team."

"Eh, I would have hated her in high school," Paige grimaced.

"Oh, don't get me wrong. Prue went through her rebellious phase it just didn't last as long as Phoebe's. Then again, Phoebe never really grew out of it," she smiled sadly.

"That explains Cole," Paige laughed and they made their way up a stone path until they reached a shed.

"It looks like it's been abandoned," Paige said as she followed Piper.

"Yeah, well I thought you might like to see this place. You know how I bought the new building? Well, Prue doesn't know I know, but Prue bought the campgrounds after the previous owner died last year. I guess she wanted to keep it in the family."

Moving through, the older woman made her way over to a stack of newspapers about the drowning before remembering what she had gone there for. Turning to an old desk covered in papers, Piper began looking through shelves until she found an old teaching certificate and handed it to Paige.

"Samuel Wilder," she asked and looked up. "And he's 128 years old? Do you mean Sam?"

"Your father. Biological father," she added. "He was devastated after mom died and he stayed here in case the demon ever resurfaced. He was here last year when we vanquished the demon that killed mom."

"So where is he?" Paige wasn't quite sure if she wanted to know the answer.

"Paige, he died during the vanquish. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I'm not exactly used to having a real live parent. Besides, I'm not a kid anymore and I have sisters anyway. I'm not exactly alone," she said.

"Not anymore," Piper told her.

Paige saw an old photograph on the desk and moved to look at it. "That's him. I recognize him from my vision."

"Now that this place is in the family, you can come here whenever you like. You know, if you ever want to learn more about him," Piper told her.

Before Paige could say anything she could feel the vision making its way to the forefront of her mind.

_Patty was running with a newspaper over her head, though her long curls were already drenched. Making it to the entrance of the apartment building, she took out a key and made her way past the doorman –freezing him before he could see her—and to the elevators. _

_Sam was waiting in the doorway for her and immediately kissed her with everything in him. "Let's get you cleaned up before you freeze." _

_Moving into the apartment, he led her by the hand to the bathroom before she finally had the nerve to confront him. _

"_Sam, wait. I need to tell you something," she hesitated and just stared in his eyes. _

"_What's going on, Patty? Did something happen; are you alright?"_

"_I'm pregnant, Sam."_

"Paige, did you see something?" It had been weird seeing her like that, because she looked so calm. Phoebe had always looked tense, like her body was being possessed by her power.

"I think I saw the past again. Didn't you guys say I was supposed to see the future? Maybe my power is screwed up because I haven't seen the future once."

"What did you see?"

Taking a breath, Paige turned up a small smile. "I saw mom and Sam, together. It's kind of nice though, because I'll never have my own memories but at least I have theirs—kind of."

Piper just looked at her sadly, realizing just how much they had missed out on over the years.

* * *

Setting the food on the table, Piper looked up as she saw Prue finally arrive home. "Hey, stranger, welcome home."

Prue tugged her heels off and threw her jacket up on the wall before making her way to the conservatory. "What's all this," she asked, seeing cartons of ice cream and a box of pizza, popcorn and twizzlers. "Dibs," she said picking up the licorice.

"You're the only one who likes that stuff anyway," Paige walked in with the spirit board. "I saw this in the attic and I thought it might be cool to play with."

Prue and Piper looked at each other, silent for a moment before they burst out laughing.

"Anything I should know," Paige asked and both sisters started laughing again.

"You would find the spirit board," Prue said and sat on the couch. "Who wants to ask the first question," and Paige's hand shot up.

"Will Prue ever meet Mr. Right," which earned her a smack on the arm. "Ow," she rubbed it and stuck out her tongue.

"Why is that always the first question whenever this thing gets dragged out," she asked Piper.

"'Cause you're the one person who never has a boyfriend whenever the spirit board is called upon to answer our most important questions," she bantered.

Neither of them noticed the pointer move, or Paige's hands fly up as she fell back on the floor where she sat Indian style. "What the hell was that?"

"That, my dear, was magic," Prue said as she watched the pointer move to 'yes'. A huge smile appeared on her face. "It's about time," she said and got up from her seat.

"Where are you going," Piper asked.

"To get wine," Prue answered from the other room and came back with three glasses.

"Oh, I don't drink anymore," Paige said. "I kind of have a problem with certain liquids," she told them when they gave her a funny look.

Prue poured the third cup anyway. "Well, for Phoebe then. She's here in spirit," she explained, unaware of just how true her words were.

"For Phoebe," they toasted.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: So...I don't want anyone to be discouraged by the upcoming events. I know I put down the main characters of this story as being Prue and Cole in a romance genre. That is still the objective but I've read fanfics where it happens right after Phoebe's death and that just doesn't ring true to me. It's probably going to be drawn out and so of course I have to bring in other love interests to make it interesting. Please Read and Review.

* * *

"So what do you think we should do about it," Piper asked.

"Well, we could confront Paige straight on and ask her about it," Prue said liking the straight forward approach, "or we can search the internet and see what we come up with on our own. It's less direct but it will give us a stepping off point."

Prue grabbed the empty popcorn bowl and the wine glasses while Piper grabbed the pizza box and the wine.

"I just wish that we had known. I mean, she had it even worse than we did," Piper continued on the subject. "At least we had Grams and each other, but she lost everyone."

"We can talk to her tomorrow. I have the day off so I can see what we come up with and ask her during dinner."

Prue felt a mix of emotions. Shame and guilt for being so caught up in her own grief over Phoebe, as well as trying so hard to help Paige fit into their lives that Prue hadn't thought to figure out where they fit into Paige's life.

And Paige did have a life before them; one that included an amazing college education at UC Berkley and rich friendships. Where were those friends now? Was Paige on the way of sacrificing those relationships because of her new destiny as a Charmed one just like her older sisters had?

"Well, I guess we'll find out tomorrow," Piper said and turned off the lights.

* * *

"Incoming," Paige yelled across the office floor and swiveled in her chair as she bounced up to go meet the fax that was coming in, avoiding that sleaze bag Donnie who kept hitting on her every chance he got.

"Hey, Paige," Lila snuck up behind Paige who jumped at her voice. "Woah, sorry," she held out her hands in defense. "Didn't mean to scare you, I was just wondering if you were gonna hit happy hour with us."

"I'd love to, but I'm having a family dinner tonight and I also want to avoid Donnie as much as possible. You'd think he'd get the hint already," she sighed.

"Yeah, especially after we ditched him at the last happy hour and moved to another bar," the other woman laughed. "Well, tell your Aunt Julie and Uncle Dave I said hi and maybe we can get together over the weekend for drinks."

"Thanks Lila," Paige said, not correcting her friend's assumption that she was meeting her aunt and uncle.

Truth was Paige hadn't told any of her friends about her sisters yet. She just didn't know how to tell them without it turning into a big deal. Granted, it was a huge deal but the young woman had way too much to deal with at the moment and that included powers she had only just started to learn how to control.

"Well, at least the O'Brian application is done," she said before heading back to her desk.

* * *

"Long time no see," Darryl Morris stood to hug her before offering her his seat.

"Thanks, it's just been a really busy time for us—"

"There's no need to explain, Prue. You must be dealing with so much right now, especially with Lopez looking into Phoebe's case."

Prue's gaze turned down as her eyes began to water. "I'm just glad that we've had the time to cope with everything."

"So what's going on," he asked.

"I need your help with a couple of things," Prue told him. "First," she scooted, "I need to know more about Paige's past."

"That's your long lost sister that just appeared on the scene?" Darryl reached over her and grabbed a folder sitting on her desk, handing it to her. "Lopez was surprised to hear you had another sister so he had me check into her past. It seems like your sister was abandoned at a nearby church on August 2nd, 1978. She was adopted by a nice couple; a firefighter and a stay at home mom.

"Unfortunately, Paige was in the accident that killed her parents," he said and took out several pictures. "The car went up in flames, killing her parents while she was found thrown from the car."

"That's horrible," Prue said. "How old was she?"

"About sixteen. She had been in some trouble for partying but after her parents died she turned it around. Went to Berkley and got her bachelors and masters in social work, all on scholarships."

"How did she manage to take care of herself after they passed?"

"Paige has an aunt and uncle who took her in until she finished high school the next year," Darryl said. "Anyway, Lopez is trying to figure out how and when Paige came into your life. He's like a dog with a bone, Prue. He thinks something about Phoebe's death is fishy and he'll hound you until he finds what he's looking for."

"Yeah, I kind of figured. I'm actually supposed to be meeting him here in half an hour to discuss her case. That brings me to the second thing I came to talk to you about. I need the final paperwork for the new identity for Cole. He's still under investigation for his time as an A.D.A and with Phoebe's murder—"

"Leave it to me. My friends are taking care of that," Darryl said. In the corner of his eye he saw Lopez enter and stood, holding a hand out for Prue and guiding her up as the other detective met her.

"Ms. Halliwell, you're early," Lopez said.

"Yes, well I wanted a few minutes with Darryl." Prue was annoyed by this man not only for the fact that he was barking up a tree that was barren and had no leaves, but because his very existence posed a threat to her and her sisters as well as constantly reminding them of their recent loss.

"I remember that you two are friends," he led her over to his desk, leaving Darryl to his work. "How exactly did you two meet?"

"I used to date his old partner, Andrew Trudeau, before his death."

"Inspector Trudeau was killed in the line of duty, correct?"

"Yes." Prue refused to look away even as her eyes threaten to let loose at the thought of Andy. This man would not make her feel ashamed for her role in anyone's death any more than she already was.

"How did you meet Inspector Trudeau?"

"I've known him since we were kids. We lived across the street from each other and were high school sweethearts. After he transferred back from Portland we began seeing each other again."

"Well, I just have a few questions for you that might help us in the search for your sister's killer. Do you know anything about the whereabouts of a Mr. Cole Turner? He was a former A.D.A that was reportedly seeing your sister before he went missing."

"I know who Cole Turner is," Prue said. "Truth is I never much cared for him and I didn't like the fact that my sister was involved with him, but he disappeared a few months ago."

"Did you or your sister hear anything from him after he disappeared?"

Prue shook her head. "I know that Phoebe tried to find him. She didn't have it in her to think he was capable of just up and leaving without saying a word to her, or to see any of his flaws."

Lopez looked interested. "What flaws would those be?"

"I just never felt comfortable with him around," Prue said. She and Cole had strategized over just exactly what she should say during this interview and Cole had told her to keep it as honest as possible. The closer she stayed to the truth, the more it would read that way. "I couldn't put my finger on any one thing specifically, but it always seemed like he was hiding something and I didn't want my little sister to see him. I thought he was using her for whatever reason."

"How did your other sisters feel about Cole?"

"Piper never really said anything to me." Prue shifted in her seat. "Being the middle sister, she's always been more of a mediator between me and Phoebe. I think she was trying to keep an open mind towards Cole because I was very verbal about my feelings."

"And Paige," he asked, trying to see where she would take the bait.

"Paige is a recent discovery," she answered. "Truth be told, Piper and I only just found out about her after Phoebe's death. She didn't know Cole."

"How did you come to discover Paige?" Lopez was looking for every and anything he could to prove that the Halliwell sisters knew more about their sister's death than what they were pretending. Looking into their financial records he had discovered that upon receiving their shares of her life insurance policy that Prue and Piper had bought two new properties, which certainly gave them motive for their sister's murder.

"Paige approached us before the funeral. She wanted to extend her condolences," Prue fought to contain her tears. "I recognized her before she even told us who she was; she looks so much like my mother."

"Moving on, it seems that you and Piper are doing very well for yourselves. You both purchased new properties recently, didn't you?"

Prue didn't like where he was going with this but knew that it was better to cooperate with him. The truth was he was never going to find Phoebe's killer because she and Piper had already vanquished him, thankfully with no exposure this time around.

"Piper is a chef, and though she owns a successful night club, she wanted to get back to doing what she loves the most so she bought a building that she'll be renovating into a restaurant."

"And the property you bought," he asked.

"It used to be a summer camp that Piper and I attended. It holds special meaning to us so when it was up for sale I decided to buy it but just so you know, I purchased the property before Phoebe's death with my own savings. Not," she told him, "the money I received as a beneficiary of her life insurance."

Lopez made a mental note to look into Prue's claims. "What meaning does the property hold for you? You said it was a summer camp you used to go to; good memories?"

"No. Our mother died there when I was seven years old. It's the last place I saw her," she told him and noticed for the first time any semblance of compassion.

"I'm sorry that you experienced that kind of loss so early," he offered genuinely. "It must have been hard to deal with losing a parent that young."

"We didn't just lose our mother," Prue told him. "Our father left us in the care of our Grandmother for the next twenty years before we ever heard anything from him again. About two years ago he contacted us; tried to build a new relationship with us."

"Only two years, and then he loses a daughter he only just got back. He must be devastated."

"It's hitting him hard, especially since Phoebe was his youngest daughter."

Lopez had a sour look on his face. "I thought Paige was born after Phoebe," he said, looking through his notes.

"Paige is our half sister. Apparently, our mother met someone after her divorce and became pregnant. She gave Paige up because she couldn't afford to take care of another child, especially as a single mother," she told him, leaving out the part about Paige's father being a whitelighter or how they had met him the year before only for him to be killed during a vanquish.

"Well, I can't say how sorry I am for the losses you've experienced," Lopez said standing up. He offered Prue a hand and walked her to the exit. "I _will_ say that I am determined to bring your sister's killer to justice. I'll keep you updated on the progress of the case."

"Thank you, Inspector," Prue replied. "My entire family will be extremely grateful to you," she said before leaving.

* * *

Prue stopped by 415 magazine before heading home. Her boss had called her in to discuss yesterday's photo shoot about an up and coming media mogul named Jason Dean.

She couldn't lie. For the first time in a while she had found a man attractive. Most of her previous relationships had been short lived because they had lacked the passion she had felt for Andy and later Bane. It helped that the businessman was extremely intelligent and seemed like a kind soul, spending much of their time together trying to earn a smile from her.

Stepping off of the elevator onto his floor, Prue strode toward his office and smiled at his receptionist before letting herself in.

Gil held up a hand, motioning her to remain silent as he finished up the conversation being held over the phone. Hanging up, her boss sat up straight and gestured for her to sit while he smiled.

"Here," he said, handing her a manila folder and waited for her to review the materials. "It's a contract with the magazine. Your work here over the past six months has spoken volumes and I know we had discussed you staying on for a trial basis but your work has more than earned you the position here."

Prue was ecstatic, though she kept her reaction guarded close to the vest. "It's a contract for the next three years," she said flipping through the documents.

"Well, the magazines new owner is looking to lock in all of our main talent. You'll see the position comes with a generous office space as well as a secretary. The pay raise is good too," Gil said.

"I wasn't aware the magazine was under new ownership," Prue looked up at her boss.

Just then his office door opened and Jason Dean walked in, wearing a dress shirt rolled up at the sleeves and dark slacks with perfectly matching loafers.

"Prudence," he greeted her with a huge grin, "I was glad to hear that you were in the office today," and sat down next to her. "I see you've had the chance to look over the proposed contract. Do you have any questions?"

"Well, I suppose the first question I would like to ask is why is an internet media mogul who created and sold one of the most successful dating websites as well as a vineyard in Italy making the move to magazines?"

He laughed, tilting his head to the side and looking at her. "You're very direct. I like that. The truth is, my business plan over the next five years include the purchases of several media outlets in magazines, newspapers and television. I chose 415 because while it's local to the Bay Area, it has the potential to go nationwide and I wanted the opportunity to grow the business; be a real part of it. I think some revamping will take 415 in a better direction and it starts with you."

"How so? I mean, I understand it from a visual aesthetic as I'm responsible for the look of the magazine, but other than contributing my photography how can I play a role in growing the magazine?"

"That's a great question. I think we should talk about it over dinner," Jason replied.


	6. Chapter 6

Prue walked through the manor doors with a bounce in her step and the contract under her arm. Placing her bag and keys on the foyer table, she saw Piper carrying out a tray and the table already set with plates, wine glasses and for Paige apple cider.

Walking over, she leaned to take a smell. "Stuff veal chops," Prue said. "How did you know they were my favorite," she grinned and started pouring wine into her own glass.

"Because it's Paige's favorite too and I asked her if she had any requests for tonight. Do you think it's okay for us to drink in front of Paige considering her history?"

Prue put her wine glass down and looked at Piper. "I have thought of that," she said. "I think we might want to ask her how she feels about it because avoiding drinking in front of her might be as much of a problem. I don't want her to feel like she's the reason why because it might make her more aware of her drinking problem."

"I just wish there was something we could do for her," Piper said, finally settling into the familiar role of middle sister and caregiver again. It had been rough accepting a sister after losing Phoebe, but Prue's total acceptance had helped her own.

"Hey," Paige said as she struggled to enter the manor with a big file box. She dropped it and threw her purse down on top of it before heaving her jacket onto the window seat. "Sorry, I'm late. I had to bring home some files to work on over the weekend because I'm falling behind in work."

"Piper just brought dinner out and I only got home a few minutes ago," Prue told her, "so you're not even late."

"Sit down," Piper started plating the food. "Leo's up 'there' for a meeting and I thought we'd make a girls' night of it; you know, continuing last night's escapades."

"Good, because you never finished that story about freezing Leo," Paige said and Prue choked on her wine as she laughed.

"Let's just say Piper worked her own kind of magic on him and leave it at that," Prue said, sitting at the head of the table.

"So, I know why I was late but why were you Prue?"

Prue stopped cutting her veal chop and smiled. "Good news for a change. I've been offered a permanent position at 415," Prue paused at her sisters' 'oh, my Gods!' and 'That's great!', "and apparently the new owner wants to work closely with me to help reinvent the magazine and hopefully go national with it."

"Prue, that's amazing. You've always dreamt of something like this. To think, a year and a half ago you were working at Bucklands in antiquities and authenticating items, and now you have your dream job," Piper raved.

"Wait, you weren't always a photographer," Paige asked.

"No. Grams really pushed history and art history on me. I used to work at a museum before working at Bucklands, which is an auction house."

"Yeah," Piper told her, "and both times her bosses were evil. The first was her ex-fiancé and the second was a warlock who tried to frame her for grand theft tiara."

"Wait, your ex-fiancé was a demon? Wow, you and Phoebe must have had more in common than you thought."

Paige would never have thought Prue would have dated a demon. She seemed too put together, too knowing; like a big sister.

"No, he was just a douche," Prue explained, "but of the two I would rather deal with the warlock any day. Piper's the one who dated a warlock. Hm," she mumbled after taking a sip of her wine, "the first warlock to ever attack us after finding out we were witches."

"Wow, so all of us have a thing for the bad guys. Maybe I can avoid that; you know, learn from your mistakes," she grinned.

"Yeah right," Piper scoffed. "Sooner or later it will happen to you and when it does, Prue will be there to say 'Told you so.'"

"Well, getting back to this promotion," Prue said, "it comes with office space, a secretary of my choosing, and a pay raise. My salary is going to hit six figures, so along with the club and now the restaurant, I think we're going to be financially secure."

"Yes! No more working overtime for me," Paige laughed. "Maybe now I can pursue my art and become the next Picasso."

"Um, now that we've talked shop," Piper said, "we've got some other things that need to be discussed."

Prue sat up straight and put her drink down. "It's occurred to me and Piper that we've spent a great amount of time trying to help you fit into our lives and destiny but recently we've wondered if we haven't put as much effort into fitting into _your_ life."

Shaking her head, Paige just stared back and forth between her sisters; confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, obviously we've been trying to get you up to snuff with your training in potions and studying the Book of Shadows," Piper said, "and summoning mom and taking you to the cabin was nice but again, it's more like trying to fill you in on everything that you've missed out on because you were given up."

"I think what Piper is trying to say, is that we want to be able to blend our lives together and not to try and make you forget the life you already had," Prue said. "We want to make sure that we don't keep you from honoring your past just because your future changed in a terrible moment," she reflected on Phoebe's death.

"And because it occurred to us that we haven't asked you about your life with your parents, we committed the ultimate sisterly act of snooping and found out about the car accident that killed your parents," Piper tried to break it gently.

Paige pursed her lips and put down her knife and fork. After a moment she said, "If you wanted to know, all you had to do was ask. It's not like I was hiding it."

"We know," Prue said and reached out to grab her hand, "but after learning you had sisters, and learning about your drinking problem we didn't know how to handle talking to you and we thought it might just be easier to see what we could find on our own. I'm sorry."

"Well, what do you want to know," Paige asked; her voiced held little emotion.

"Is it a problem for you if we drink around you," Piper went first.

"You own a bar, Piper. I've been going to it for over a year now, I don't think you guys casually having a glass of wine is going to upset me. I've been sober for almost five years now."

"We also know about your Aunt and Uncle taking you in until you finished high school. Have you told them about us," Prue asked.

"I have," Paige said. "I went to lunch with them last week and we talked about it then. What else do you want to know?"

"Can we meet them?" Prue was the next to speak. "I mean, other than dad, you're our only family. It would be nice to meet yours."

Paige shook her head. "I can't," she told them. "Look, it's not anything against you, but in the few weeks I've been a part of your family I have learned more about the consequences of being a witch from all of your stories and potion lessons. I can't put them in the middle of that."

"I can understand wanting to protect them from this, I just hope that it doesn't prevent you from keeping them in your life," Piper told her. "We've lost a lot of good friendships; don't let it do that you."

The sisters waited awkwardly for something; anything to break the silence.

* * *

Piper walked into Three Sisters and looked at all the work Leo had done. It was all cosmetic work; new flooring, updating the kitchen and restrooms as well as new paint on the walls. Walking over to the bar, she saw that Leo had drawn up plans for the outside patio area. It was everything she had dreamed of.

But not everyone was here. She had always thought that Phoebe would be here when her restaurant finally became reality. It had been more than two years since she quit her job managing Quake to open a restaurant, but a bar had been a less risky investment at the time. Turns out business wasn't the biggest risk in her life.

Being Charmed had done some pretty amazing things for her like introducing her to Leo, but it had also caused her undeniable heartache; losing her mother and father at a young age, then Grams and later Phoebe. Now she had the club and restaurant but as she thought about how happy she should be about finally opening it, and how the Source and other demons had given them a temporary reprieve, Piper's eyes began to tear.

There was no way she could have brought it up to her sisters. Not at dinner, after they had all tried to recover from the awkwardness of trying to build that bond that their lives depended on. Still, it had never left her mind for a minute and she didn't know how to break it to Leo. Leo, who was doing everything to make sure her dreams came true and whom would never have his dreams realized because her doctor had told her today that based on a preliminary examination it looked like she would never be able to get pregnant.

'Slim to no chance' was how he had put it. Still, he had made appointments to do more fertility tests on her and had asked about having her husband come in. Piper had made the follow up appointments for herself because she kept clinging to that image of Melinda, the beautiful daughter that she had taken for granted that she would have and now knew would never happened.

Thinking back on that future, she mentally calculated when she would have needed to get pregnant. They had traveled to 2009 where her daughter was approximately seven years old, add another ten months for pregnancy and the truth was her daughter should be conceived right about now.

Piper sobbed, her hand flying to protect the womb that would never be filled. Not only had she and her sisters changed the future so much that Phoebe was no longer here, but now she would never have children. There was no doubt in her mind that this was her punishment for letting her little sister die.

* * *

Prue entered the kitchen, ready for the day and dressed to the nines. Jason wanted to meet this morning with her and a few select others like Gil to discuss how 415 was going to be revamped.

She had tons of ideas and her portfolio was coming with her. Of course, Prue would wait to hear what exactly it was Jason wanted for the magazine before attacking this opportunity. Growing up, she had wanted to go into photojournalism and had even had two minors in political science and international relations and while the magazine gig hadn't been her dream job, Prue loved it more than she could have ever realized.

Surprised that Piper wasn't already up, she grabbed a bowl of cereal along with her coffee and sat to read the paper. _Then again_, she thought to herself, _I am up earlier than usual so it's really no surprise that Piper's still in bed. _

Paige came tumbling through the door still in thermal pajamas and her hair pulled back in a messy bun. "Coffee," she said reminding Prue of a zombie. At least someone else in this family was on her side when it came to coffee but then again it was annoying when Paige didn't put on another pot.

"Don't forget," Prue told her, "it's your turn to pick up the milk or Piper will go full on bitch on your ass."

Grumbling, she threw herself down into a chair and guzzled her coffee. "Uh, don't get me wrong. These past couple of days I've really felt a lot closer to her and all but how do you put up with the drill sergeant thing she's got going on? It's really frustrating and I'm just glad she seems to have put it on hold."

Laughing, Prue got up to put her stuff in the sink. "She wasn't always like that. It's more of a new development. I was always the hard ass. The one who made sure everything got done and got done the right way. It drove Phoebe nuts until we all got into the groove of this whole Charmed thing."

"Well, where is she? I didn't see her in her room when I was coming down," Paige said.

"She's not upstairs?" Prue marched upstairs and for the first time Paige got a look at Prue in action.

"Piper," she called and walked into her room. The door was open and so she didn't knock first.

Leo orbed in behind the two without any warning. "What's going on," he asked and Paige orbed out in fright, while Prue turned to look at her brother-in law.

"Can you sense Piper," she asked and Paige appeared again.

Closing his eyes, he kept quiet for a moment before saying, "She's at the restaurant. Why, what's going on?"

"Nothing, she just left this morning without telling anyone," Prue said. "Now that we know that she's safe I have to get going for my meeting," and she left.

"What's the matter, Leo," Paige asked noticing the worried look on his face.

"Piper's in pain," he said. "I've got to go to the restaurant—"

"Wait, I'll go with you. Let me just change," she said and jogged to her room to change into jeans and a tee shirt.

"Alright, I'm ready," Paige met Leo and they orbed out together.

* * *

"Prue," Jason smiled and moved to escort her into the conference room. The heads of the different departments were all there, and what she thought would be a strictly business meeting was much more intimate; definitely different from her days at Bucklands.

Suit jackets were discarded and wine was being served throughout the room. Picking up a bottle, Prue read the label and discovered it was a very prestigious vintage and realized that it was from a vineyard that Jason had recently acquired.

"Would you like some," he asked.

"Thank you, that would be very nice even though it is a little early. I think I approve of having a boss who owns and operates as many versatile businesses as you do."

"Ah, so you realized it's one of mine. Well, I have my eggs in a lot of different baskets."

"I'm aware," Prue smirked. "I won't just work for anyone, but I thought this was supposed to be a work meeting not a party."

"Oh, no; this is not a party. That happens later."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Please read and review. I love the feedback I've gotten so far and I love hearing from you guys. I'm also glad that you seem to like this story so much and I will try to update as often as possible.

* * *

Materializing at Three Sisters, Leo and Paige found Piper lying on the floor; drunk.

"Gross, she reeks," Paige said and checked her sister for a pulse. Piper was passed out. "She must have been like this for hours, how come you didn't sense it earlier?"

"All whitelighters were in a meeting with the Elders. My charges were put on mute so there wouldn't be any interruptions."

"I'll grab her purse, then we'll orb to manor."

* * *

"That was new," Prue said as Jason walked her to her car.

The meeting had lasted for close to six hours as Jason mingled and schmoozed the editors while charmingly maneuvering them to his vision of what the magazine should be.

"I hope you enjoyed it," Jason said. "I'm trying to ease everyone into the new direction instead of showing up and putting everyone in an uproar. People tend to get frazzled under new management."

"Well, I don't think you have to worry about that, Mr. Dean. You know how to work a crowd."

"Good," he said just as they reached her BMW convertible. He gave it an appreciative glance. "That's a very nice car you have, Ms. Halliwell."

"Thank you. I've always loved sports cars, and for a while it made more sense to have an SUV for photo shoots but I just can't seem to help myself so I traded it in for this."

"Well," he said as he helped her into the driver's seat, "maybe next time I can show you mine. I think you'd appreciate it."

"I guess we'll see," she said and smiled.

* * *

"Ew, what's in that," Piper asked as she passed the glass back to Paige.

Piper had come to a couple of hours previously and was sporting a major hang over. Refusing to talk to Leo, he went to go help a charge in the hope that Paige could figure out what was going on with his wife. It hadn't made sense to him how she could be in so much emotional pain and not share it with him.

Finally, tired of the pounding in her head, Piper had given in and allowed Paige to make her own special hangover remedy. She was now regretting that choice.

"Give it a minute or two to kick in," the girl said. "I'm telling you it really works," Paige said and pushed Piper's leg off of the coffee table so she could sit on the other side of her. "Now, are you going to tell me what's going on with you or do I need to call Prue and tell her to get her skinny ass home so she can talk some sense into you?"

"No, don't call Prue," Piper said. "Things are finally looking up around here and I don't want to ruin that."

"Well, if everything is going so great, why did you get black out drunk," Paige retorted.

Sighing, Piper grabbed a pillow and clung to it as she tried to think about what she was going to say.

"You don't know, but two years ago we went to the future," Piper said. "Phoebe had a premonition about her execution—she was burned at the stake—and we went to try and figure out why."

"Time travel? If I knew that was even a possibility I would have started studying for your class a lot sooner," Paige remarked.

Piper laughed, though there wasn't a lot of joy. "The point is, when we went to the future I saw that I was going to have a little girl," she wiped away a tear. "It's not like I've been thinking about it or anything. I guess I just thought it would happen when it happened but I went to the doctor yesterday—"

"Oh, honey! Did you think you were pregnant," Paige rubbed a hand up and down Piper's arm as she tried to lend some support.

"No, it wasn't anything like that. It was just a routine checkup that if I'm being honest, I was more than a little bit over due for. With everything that goes on in our lives I just haven't been able to make it to my doctor's office."

"So what happened," Paige asked.

"The doctor did the pelvic exam," she sniffled, "and I guess he didn't think everything was alright because he wanted to do a pelvic ultrasound. He said something about there being a lot of scar tissue," trying to recall his words, "and how it was unlikely that I would ever be able to conceive and/or carry a child."

Paige grabbed her sister, pulling her into a hug. "Oh, sweetie. I'm so sorry," Paige said, "but you can't lose hope. I mean, I'm proof that good things happen when a witch and a whitelighter get together. Have you told Leo about any of this?"

"No," the older woman wiped her eyes. "We haven't even started talking about kids but this would devastate him. I made an appointment for more tests for myself and they want Leo to come in but he's an angel, and I can't exactly tell them that."

"You and Leo will figure this out together, and you're only twenty-eight years old. There will be plenty of time for you to think about kids," Paige tried to cheer her up. "I'm sure that our line is not supposed to end with us."

"I know, but I can't help but think about her. I mean, I saw how beautiful she was and I heard her laugh. I can't imagine a world that she's not in and I can't help but think—"

"Think what," Paige asked when Piper hesitated to continue.

"I can't help but think this is my punishment for losing Phoebe."

Paige's compassionate look drained from her face as she grabbed Piper's chin in between her thumb and her index finger. "You are not being punished for losing Phoebe," she declared. "Losing Phoebe was not something you or Prue or Phoebe deserved, or something that you let happen. It just did," she reprimanded her sister. "And some way or another you will have your own child someday but you won't get there by drowning in your sorrow."

"Paige—"

"No, don't 'Paige' me! Get mad about losing Phoebe, about possibly not being able to conceive; get mad, cry, do all that. But don't you dear give up," Paige lectured her. "Now, you sit your bony ass exactly where it is and I will be back in a few minutes with every tear jerking chick flick I own and all the junk food Prue hides from you and maybe even a bottle of wine, though I think you've had enough. And later, much later, when you feel better and you can manage to talk about it, you will sit down and tell your husband what you just told me because he deserves to know. No," she yelled and pointed at her sister. "Stay! I'll be right back."

Piper didn't know whether to laugh or cry at her newest sister's antics—so she did both.

* * *

Prue stopped to pick up take out and returned to the manor to find a full on rom-com marathon going on.

She carried the Chinese food into the conservatory where she sat down next to Piper and noticed how red and swollen her sister's face was, way more than the chick flick should have elicited. "What's going on? Is everything okay?"

Piper looked to Paige, who paused the movie so they could talk.

"Piper got some pretty upsetting news," Paige said glossing over the fact that she and Leo had found Piper in a drunken stupor, "and we spent the day having a self induced crying fest to make ourselves feel better."

Prue turned back to Piper and snuggled in closer, kicking off her heels in the process. "What did you find out?"

Piper pushed her hair behind her ears and looked down for a second before saying it out loud. "My doctor seems to think that I am not capable of conceiving and carrying a child because of scar tissue he found during my exam."

"But Melinda," Prue uttered, confused at this turn of events. She had seen her niece when they went to the future and she had taken for granted that it would just happen. "Does Leo know?"

"Not yet," Piper explained, unaware that her husband had orbed in the dining room. "I just don't know how to tell him."

* * *

Leo orbed into the manager's office after sensing to see if any of the employees were around. Walking out into the bar, he made his way to the counter where he saw Ben working as a bartender.

"Leo," he called out. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Just had to get away, you know? Can I get a long neck?"

"Sure, man. Here you go," Ben said and slid it across the bar. He turned to the other bar tender and told him he was taking a break.

"Let's go grab a booth," he yelled over the music.

They pushed through the crowd until they made it over to a private booth where they could hear a lot better.

"Where are the girls," Ben asked.

"At home having another girls' night. I didn't want to barge in on them bonding."

Nodding, Ben signaled one of the waitresses to bring him two more beers. "Are you sure everything's alright?"

"No," Leo answered. "I'm not sure of anything anymore."

* * *

Ben ushered Leo through the door and through Piper's keys on the table. Paige had called him that morning and told him that Piper had left her car at the restaurant and had asked him to bring it home.

Looking to the conservatory, he saw that Piper had actually let it remain a mess for once, confirming that something truly odd was going on with his favorite couple.

"Come on, man. Let's get you upstairs before your wife wakes up and finds you like this."

He dumped the whitelighter on his bed and left to find his own bed which was set up in the basement. Now that his new identity had come through and he actually had a bank account with savings, he would have to see about finding his own place.

It would be hard being away from the girls but he couldn't keep living off of their generosity. It was one thing to take a job managing Piper's businesses but he couldn't continue to take advantage of them. He would have to move on at some point.

Turning into the kitchen, he saw Prue sitting at the table with her eyes closed and her body slumped over. That could only mean one thing.

"Prue," he shook her and suddenly her conscious state re-inhabited her body. "What happened; are you okay?"

"Um, yeah," she said as she shuffled out of her seat and grabbed her glass to put in the sink. "I just needed to get away for a few minutes."

"And you couldn't take your car," he asked.

"Well, this was quicker and much safer considering how tired I am. At least when I astral project I don't have to worry about falling asleep at the wheel," she joked.

"So where'd you go; Fiji, Cabo, Honolulu?"

"The lake," she answered. "I've been spending some time at the lake."

"You mean where your mother died?"

"Yeah. After we defeated the water demon it was up for sale. Apparently no one was interested in it because it stayed on the market and I bought it a couple of months ago."

"What are you thinking of doing with the property?"

"I don't know," she answered truthfully. "Growing up I always thought that the Manor would be mine some day but the truth is I'm thirty; almost thirty-one, and still single. No husband or children to pass the Manor or our legacy onto. I'm thinking eventually one or more of us is going to have to leave and build our own home elsewhere. It might be nice to live on the water and turn the extra space into a workshop."

"Wow, I never thought I'd hear those words from your mouth," he joked. "I thought if you had it your way then the Charmed ones would live together forever."

"Yeah, well if there's anything I've learned from Phoebe's death it's that anything can happen whether we live together or not. I might be ready to finally have my own life without being responsible for everyone else's well being," Prue acknowledged the realization she had come to earlier. Still, she wouldn't move out until Piper was taken care of.


	8. Chapter 8

Prue came down for breakfast, glad to have the day off though all it did was make her more aware of the dinner date she had with Jason that night.

In her mind she already had her outfit and her makeup picked out. Prue knew the restaurant he had chosen and was well aware of their menu from many business meetings she had with clients while she worked at Bucklands. Many collectors had needed to be wined and dined before agreeing to sell with her, but if Prue was anything she was tenacious.

Grabbing her cup of coffee, she made a mental note to go to the salon today.

"Hey, Piper," she turned her attention to her sister. "How did things go with Leo last night?"

"They didn't. My husband snuck in after I went to bed and when I woke up this morning he was gone." Holding up a sticky note, she held it out to show Prue. "Apparently he went to go work on the renovations at the restaurant but it just feels as if he's avoiding me," the middle sister said sadly. "I don't know how I'm going to tell him."

Prue took her little sister's hand in her own and kissed it. "Everything is going to work out, and if at first you don't succeed then you have me to do your dirty work."

Piper relaxed a little and smiled. "You always make everything better again. Paige did well, too. I'm glad that I decided to give her a chance. I think Phoebe would have really liked her too," she looked down as she tried to gather her composure.

"One day, Piper; one day we'll see her again," Prue said.

* * *

Ben walked in and found Leo working on the bathrooms, putting in new tile floors.

"This place looks amazing, Leo. It should be up and running soon."

"Yeah," he wiped sweat from his brow. "There are only a couple more little details to take care of before we can order the tables and supplies but it's going to be a beauty."

"Well, don't mind me. I just came by to set up the office," Ben said and walked away.

* * *

Prue didn't know what to do with herself. She had the entire day to herself but all of her work was completed and her sisters were working. Her surroundings were completely silent and she was just reminded of how alone she was.

It wasn't long before she decided to get out of her own mind; literally. After she had almost destroyed Piper and Leo's wedding Prue had decided to make more time for herself and had taken a clue from her astral self; making time for her to be away from her sisters and job by escaping for a little while.

Last night she had been at the lake, today she wanted to visit England and all of a sudden she was outside of the flat she once shared with an ex-boyfriend. Grams had insisted on Prue staying close to home for school, but Prue had been accepted into a study abroad program on scholarship and had taken the chance of Grams killing her when she found out Prue had left the country.

That was the last truly rebellious stunt the eldest Halliwell had pulled while Penny Halliwell was still alive.

Prue had spent an amazing summer in Europe where she had met Eric. It was her first relationship after breaking up with Andy and Prue fell hard, or at least she thought she had before realizing that he was a rebound relationship. He had been a great guy, someone she could have grown old with if she had been able to let go of Andy at the time.

For a couple of hours she got to reminisce; walking through the park right across from their apartment and exploring her old stomping grounds before heading home.

"I'd better be getting back," she said to herself and faded in a golden pool of light.

* * *

Paige came home during lunch because she had spilled jelly on her back up shirt and she needed to change. Checking herself in the mirror, she nodded her approval before making her way to the kitchen, just hoping that Piper hadn't gotten rid of the leftovers she planned to scarf down.

Entering the kitchen, Paige found Prue slumped over on the table. "Well, I can't just leave her like that; she'll get a stiff neck."

When calling her name didn't work, Paige shoved Prue. Still unresponsive, Paige tried getting a premonition off of her. Concentrating, she allowed her mind to think of Prue and she saw her.

_Prue was kneeling beside her physical form; pounding on her as she yelled, "let me in!"_

_Standing, she paced until she noticed Paige walk in and watched as she too tried to wake Prue's sleeping form. _

"_Paige," she tried to get her attention, "Paige, get Piper." Prue just hoped that Paige could hear her. "Something is very wrong. I can't get back in my body and I can't get back into my astral body. I need help," she begged. "Paige; Paige!"_

Letting go of the premonition, Paige stared at the spot where she thought Prue was. "We're going to fix this," she said. "I promise," and she looked up before calling, "Leo! Prue's in trouble; bring Piper," and prayed that they could figure this out.

* * *

"What do you mean she can't get back into her body," Piper yelled. "What the hell is going on?"

Ben arrived then; Leo had told him about Prue before finding Piper, and Ben had closed up shop before heading to the manor. "How is she?"

"Besides having been evicted from her own body? Just peachy," Paige snapped. "How did this happen?"

"I think I know the answer to that," Ben said. "Prue's been taking some time for herself by astral projecting out of her body. I found her last night and when she got back she told me she'd been doing it for a while."

"That doesn't sound like Prue. Obviously, there's personal gain involved," Piper said.

"It still doesn't explain why she's trapped in the astral plane," Leo said. "This is so unusual. She's stuck in between two states where she is neither inhabiting her physical body or her astral body. Prue's power lies in the fact that she can manifest her physical and astral selves on our plane; essentially pulling her astral body into our plane of existence.

"It's as if in that split second where her astral self merges with her physical form she was trapped and now has no way to enter either body. I'm going to go check with the Elders but you guys need to guard her body and check the book of shadows for any kind of astral being that is known to take over a host. See if there's some way to keep her body unoccupied by anyone else until we know how to put Prue back in it."

"You think someone is trying to get in," Piper asked bewildered.

"It's the most likely scenario and honestly," Leo said, "we'd better hope that's it, because if it's not magical than Prue is the only one who can figure out why she's not able to come back to her body."

"Don't let them put your charges on mute," Paige warned him, thinking back to his last meeting.

"They only muted you guys," Leo replied and orbed out.

"What's he talking about," Piper asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just that he had us on mute when he was in that meeting up there," she gestured up. "What did he mean by Prue being the only one who can know why she's not getting back into her body? Don't you think she'd already have figured out a way to get back in?"

"If it's not a magical reason than it has to be psychological," Piper told her. "Prue has a lot of repressed emotions, and with her ability to escape through her power, it could be that her subconscious is using this as a way to help her figure something out. It's happened before."

Paige looked shocked. "This isn't the first time she's been locked out of her body?"

"No," Piper tried to explain, "Let's just say Prue kind of ruined my wedding because of childhood issues that seemed to pop up. You know, always having to watch out for me and Phoebe instead of looking after herself. It was hard on her."

"You're going to tell me all about that sometime, right," wanting to hear more about how Prue ruined Piper's wedding.

"I'll let her tell you after she gets back. Let's go check out the book and make sure there's nothing else behind this," she said.

On their way through the foyer the bell rang and the sisters looked at each other before Paige wandered over to the door. "May I help you," the brunette asked the stranger at the door.

"I'm Jason Dean. I'm supposed to be picking up Prue for a dinner date," he smiled.

"Uh," Piper stepped forward. "I'm sorry but Prue's in bed sick. She caught something from one of the neighbor kids and I guess she forgot to have one of us call you. We'll tell her that you dropped by."

Jason nodded. "Tell Prue I hope she feels better, and we'll have to reschedule," he said before making his way back to his car.

"He's cute," Piper told Paige, closing the door and heading for the stairs.

"Yeah, she's gonna be sorry she missed this date. Oh, well. They'll be together for a while."

Piper stopped to look at Paige. "How do you know that?"

"I see the future," Paige said. "Duh."

"Did you have a premonition off of Prue or something?"

"No, I just saw it now," Paige told her. "Why?"

"Nothing, I guess your power just works differently than Phoebe's. She always had to touch something first, at least in the beginning. Even later, though, it always pulled her in. I can't seem to tell when you see things, though."

"It's weird," Paige admitted. "It's either just there or I look for it. Like watching the television," she explained. "Either I just see whatever's on or I channel surf."

The sisters made their way up the stairs and Piper was the first one to the book. Flipping it's pages, she looked for demons who wanted to get into Prue's body or keep her out. After searching for ten minutes she slammed the book shut and glanced at the ceiling.

"This is ridiculous, I'm never going to find anything without a little bit of help," she winked at Paige who seemed confused. All of a sudden the book opened and the pages began to flip on their own.

"That always works," Piper grinned and Paige moved next to her to see what the book said.

_Phoebe crossed her eyes at her sister. She had taught Piper and Prue that trick. Leaning over the Book of Shadows, she flipped through it until she came to what they needed. "Protect her," she whispered somberly. "Like she always protected us."_

"It's a way to protect her body from being invaded," Piper told Paige. "We'll need to cast a circle around her body, and use a personal totem that we can bless to keep out unwanted visitors."

"How do we bless it?"

"With either our hair or blood," she read from the book. "This is good," looking up at Paige. "If we can use hair and blood than we can have all four of us bless the totem."

"How do we do that, I mean, Prue's unconscious and Phoebe isn't here," she reminded her gently.

"It's physical. It draws power from our physical presence; I can use a lock of hair from Phoebe and Prue and we can draw our own blood with my athame. Our very own power of four," Piper said. "But first…"

Piper headed down stairs to Prue's room and began looking through drawers for the totem. "When our mom and dad got married they used these rings. Dad brought one to have Prue appraise and she told me that these rings were made with stones thought to ward against magic," she explained as she tore through Prue's underwear.

"I thought you got mom's ring."

"Her engagement ring, not the wedding ring she replaced it with. Grams gave that to Prue and since the ring already wards off magic, if we bless it—"

"It will be extremely powerful," Paige said. "Oh, and by the way the ring is in the bathroom. Prue hid it in a powder jar so Phoebe wouldn't jack it from her."

Piper stood straight and stared at her. "Yeah," she drew out sardonically, "it's really creepy how you do that. Cool, but creepy."

"Leo thinks that my whitelighter half makes using the power easier. Apparently one or two of the Elders also have the ability to look into the future and that might also be why I inherited that power instead of yours or Prue's."

"Good to know," Piper said digging through the powder jar and shook it off. "We just have to hope that this little baby does the trick. Can you grab the book and meet me downstairs? I think I know exactly how to do this."

* * *

_Phoebe followed her down the stairs where several of her ancestors stood, waiting. Stepping forward, she completed the circle before realizing what was happening. _

_She felt her spirit reaching out to her mother and Grams, as well as her aunts and great aunts and great grandmothers in the room. They were one, and they would protect her sisters; their daughters. _

_Paige orbed Prue onto the dining room table, lying flat and she followed Piper's instructions as they performed the ritual and prepared the circle, all the while unknowing of their presence as the Halliwell witches chanted in unison with their counterparts on the other side. _


	9. Chapter 9

"So the circle is complete now," Piper said. "No one is getting inside my sister. Wait, I didn't mean it that way," she tried to convince Paige who was doubled over laughing.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," the youngest sister cried through her laughter as she held her ribs. She felt as though she were going to explode. "I'm okay now," Paige smothered her giggles.

"Can you see Prue?"

Paige focused on her older sister, who was standing beside her body and looking down at herself. "She's alright for now, just worried. What's next?"

* * *

Prue held her hand as she prayed that she would be able to find a way back into her body. Piper and Paige were talking about their next move and there was nothing she could do to help. If someone was really trying to latch onto her body, they had yet to make themselves known.

Just as she was finally letting her fear go, hopelessness swept over her. What would happen if it was all psychological? She didn't know how to get back in to her body and she didn't know what issues she supposedly had to deal with.

"Prue," she heard whispered behind her and the eldest Halliwell turned away from where her physical form laid on a table and stared at her baby sister. Tears formed in her eyes. "Phoebe," she barely uttered before going to embrace her sister.

Phoebe laughed before pulling out of Prue's arms. "I thought I'd have to wait years before I could get to see you guys," she said. "I'm really glad," she teared up, "that it's you. I don't know how to tell you just how _sorry_ I am that I let you down."

"You didn't let me down," Prue said. "I didn't protect you. I let _you_ down," she cried. "It should never have been you, Phoebe. You should be with Cole and Piper and Paige, and I can barely stand knowing that it's my fault that you're not there."

"Prue; it was never your fault. I made a choice; the wrong choice to go down to the Underworld to save Cole. I was just so afraid of leaving him there that it didn't occur to me to prioritize my actions. He could have waited until after we were finished dealing with Shax. Thank you for looking after him," she said.

"Is this why I'm here? Leo seems to think this might all be psychological—"

"I wish this were all psychological but unfortunately it is very real," Phoebe said and Prue saw her mother and Grams come out.

"Mom," her voice wavered. "What is all this? Why am I here?"

"Oh, Prudence," Patty whimpered. "My baby," she hugged her close. "We're unsure but we're here to guide you and your sisters; to help you return to them."

"We've strengthened the spells they've put in place to protect you," Grams told her, "but truth be told, we have no idea what we're dealing with here. Our main goal right now is to make sure you have something to go back to."

"So what do we do next," Prue asked.

"We wait and see," Grams said.

Phoebe reached out a hand to her sister, and they stood there with their fingers interwoven in silence.

* * *

Leo orbed in and saw the circle around Prue. "Good," he said more to himself than to his wife and sister-in law, who were currently looking in the Book of Shadows.

Piper looked up at her husband. "Did you find anything out?"

"The Elders seem to think that Prue is being held in some kind of limbo by a dark force. They don't know what it is or who it is but they've been consulting with their own seers and no one can pin down what entity has trapped her."

"So nothing," Piper said with a false sense of cheer as she slammed the book shut. Rising from her seat, sarcastic Piper took a backseat to angry Piper as she began talking with her hands aggressively and raising her voice. "So my sister is being held in between life and death by some nameless, faceless monster and the Elders are so _useless_ that they don't even have something for us to work with!"

"And I haven't been able to see past the present," Paige added. "What good is my power if it doesn't even work," the youngest sister said, defeated by the knowledge or lack thereof that they had accumulated in the past couple of hours.

"Hey," Leo caught her attention, "your power is the only thing keeping us aware of Prue's status. "You're our direct hotline to your sister and right now that is our best shot of working this out. We need to work together on both sides to figure this out."

* * *

"Do you feel that," Prue asked and her visitors looked at her strangely.

"Feel what," Phoebe said, knowing to trust her sister's instincts. They were always dead on.

"I don't know. It's like a presence," Prue searched for any clues and thought she caught a glance of a shadow moving across the floor and up the stairs. "There," she pointed before running after it; her sister followed while her mother and Grams shared a look before dissolving in bright white lights.

They appeared in the attic right before Prue and Phoebe rushed in. "I've got to learn all of those tricks," Phoebe said.

Prue moved forward, taking in every little movement in the room before moving to the podium where the book of shadows was. Piper and Paige were sitting at aunt Pearl's couch looking through old books from what she could tell, and she began flipping the pages of the Book of Shadows which they had brought back up with them.

"Nothing," she muttered and slammed it shut. "Why can't Paige see the future? She's young and new to the craft but she's powerful. I've seen her delve into the future while keeping her feet planted in the present."

"Prue, you know there are some things that we can never see before it happens," Phoebe said gently. "Sometimes we're just meant to come to things on our own, but neither Piper nor Paige is going to let anything happen to you."

"Hey," Paige said and Piper –along with the unknown presence of their sisters'—turned to face her. "Look at this; could this be about Prue?"

Piper grabbed the worn book and read the pages. "Paige, this is a prophecy; a vision one of our great aunts had. Look at this drawing," she said after flipping a few pages. Holding out the book, Phoebe and Prue tried to sneak a peek over their youngest sister's shoulder. "That is definitely Prue."

"How does this fit in with what's happening now? I mean, why would there be another prophecy about Prue when we're already Charmed and why haven't you guys come across it before?"

"Good question," Prue said turning to her mother and grandmother. "Do you two know something about this?"

"Like we would intentionally keep this from you when you're in the middle of it already," Grams harrumphed and turned her nose up.

"It _wouldn't_ be the first time," Phoebe shot back thinking to the discovery of Paige. "Can you make out what it says," she asked her sister, who was peering over Paige's shoulder to look at the book.

"I'm a little rusty on my Latin," Prue said, "but it talks about evoking the Goddess during one of the Sabbats. I would need to get a better look, do some research; the sabbat isn't for another four weeks, though, and I don't see how it has anything to do with what's happening now."

"If only Prue were here," Piper said. "I only took introductory Latin," she put the book down. "Are you okay," Piper asked when she noticed Paige staring off into space.

"Um, I don't think so. Do you see that man standing over there," Paige pointed to the farthest corner of the attic.

Piper turned, staring to see exactly what it was Paige was looking at. "No," she drawled out, concerned at this latest development. "What does he look like?"

Paige hadn't been able to remove her gaze and was looking into his eyes, but if you asked her to describe them she would be unable to. Every time the young witch thought she broke through the enchantment and could see him for his true form, the image would either change or her memory would be tampered with.

"I don't know," she watched him hold a finger to his lip, "I don't remember."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N**: Hey guys, I know; right? Updating again so quickly after the last time...well, quickly for me anyway. I know I have a habit of letting things go for awhile in between each chapter but I really wanted to update and add to the story. The problem, as always, is that I hit a certain point and then I have an idea to complicate things immensely. I always tell myself I won't, but then I do. I can't seem to help it. I hope you like it. Please read and review.

BTW..**.I will be changing the name of this story when I update next** time so look out for it. It came with the gigantic idea I had for this story, turning it into more than just a story about finding second chances after a tragedy.

* * *

He held his finger to his lips, motioning her to remain silent; to keep his cover safe. There was only his agenda in all of this, and he would need to work quickly and find a way to lead the witches on the path he set forth for them.

As the youngest prepared to answer the middle sister her concentration wavered and he hid himself from her sight once more. There had never been this issue when Phoebe had been alive; sure she had almost certainly felt his presence a number of times but even her psychic powers hadn't been able to break through his enchantments.

This one was stronger, and he was almost enamored with her and her abilities; obviously strengthened by her whitelighter origins.

* * *

Leo hung back, giving his superiors the privacy and space they needed to consult one another in this case.

They had discussed several scenarios and dismissed them almost as quickly as they worked to determine Prue's entrapment. Having a Charmed one in such a jeopardizing position was worrisome enough, especially after Phoebe's tragedy, but the eldest and most powerful one as the victim was terrifying. If something could hold Prue in limbo then there was no end to what they could do and the Elders were panicking.

Waiting, he heard Piper calling him. "_Leo," _her voice sang out and he glanced back at the group of Elders as he contemplated what to do. Seeing the discussion continue passionately, he decided to see what was happening back at the Manor.

"Piper, I have no idea what you're talking about," Paige said as she watched her sister turn pages furiously. She seriously thought that her sister was going insane because of this mess.

Piper ignored her and called for Leo, never stopping her search as she turned one page and then another. First Prue was being held captive somewhere outside of her own body and now Paige couldn't remember seeing an intruder in the attic. Next thing she knew Piper would be forgetting that she even had sisters and that would be it for the power of three.

"Could that be the point," she said more to herself than Paige and was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Leo's white blue orbs. "Oh good, you're home," Piper said as she crossed to hug her husband.

"What's going on?"

"There's been a disturbing development in the grand scheme of things and unfortunately there's no real way to describe what it is or how it has to do with Prue or what it means."

Leo's eyebrows rose as he looked to Paige to see if she understood what was going on.

"Don't look at me, dude. This chick has gone bonkers," throwing herself back on Aunt Pearl's settee.

"She doesn't remember," Piper told him, "but we were here looking through books when we found something," she scuttled over to a pile of books and held one out to Leo. "I have enough Latin to know that it is talking about a prophecy," she turned the page and pointed to a sketching, "and to know that this is Prue. I think this must be why she's in this current predicament."

"You're right," he said engrossed with the text, "this is definitely about Prue, but I don't know why the Elders wouldn't know about this."

"Well that's the first part of the mystery. The second part has to do with the sudden appearance of the invisible man and why only Paige could see him."

"Wait," Leo looked up from his reading. "There was someone here? Did you i.d him in the book?"

"Sorry," Piper told him, "but only Missy Paige over there could actually see him and when I asked her what he looked like she couldn't answer. Then it was like she went blank because a few seconds later she didn't even remember telling me that she saw someone."

"I don't know, man," Paige said from her spot on the couch. "It sounds a little crazy to me but then again I don't know why I would expect anything different. Life has been a little crazy ever since I found out I was a witch."

"It's something to look into at least," Leo said. "It could be the lead we've been looking for. Chances are Paige is the one who saw him because of her power or because she's the one he's targeting."

"Why would someone be targeting me if it's Prue they're after," Paige asked.

"Well think about it," Piper said as she realized what Leo was thinking. "There's a prophecy about Prue that we only discovered after she's been trapped in between the physical and astral planes and the only connection we have to her is you. It's pure strategy."

"If they take me out then our connection to Prue is gone," Paige caught on.

"Can you see her now," Leo asked.

Paige concentrated on her eldest sister and saw her kneeling at the ritual table, reading over the passage about the prophecy.

"Yes, she's here with mom and grams and Phoebe."

"Phoebe," Piper whimpered and her eyes watered. "She's here," her voice shook as she asked Paige, looking in the direction Paige was staring at and imagining her sister there. Leo moved to embrace her and rubbed a hand across her back, lending his strength and providing comfort. "What are they doing?"

"Prue is reading the prophecy," Paige seemed confused. "She's translating it. Hey, Leo, didn't you read it? We never even thought to ask you what it said."

Leo's gaze turned blank. "Ask me about what," he asked and the sisters turned to one another before Piper grabbed the book to show him.

"The prophecy about Prue," she shoved the book in front of him.

"I just see a blank page," he answered. "Look, I need to be getting back to the Elders to see if there are any leads about Prue. I really wish you would only call me for legitimate reasons when we're in the middle of an attack," Leo reprimanded them before orbing off.

"Did he just chastise me," Piper seethed.

"I think he did," Paige bit. She didn't want to be there when Leo got back.

* * *

"What does it say," Phoebe asked. Prue's lips were moving as she read the text, leaving the rest of them clueless.

Prue continued reading, not even registering the fact that her sister had asked her a question until she heard Gram's voice. "Prudence!" The older woman kneeled down to get her attention. "What does it say?"

"It's a journal from one of our ancestors; one of the few who had the power of premonition before Phoebe and Paige. It talks of a prophet."

Patricia moved to Phoebe's side, embracing her though it was Prue she wanted to hold. All of her girls had suffered because of mistakes she had made and she would never forgive herself for that day at the lake. Phoebe had never known a mother's love, Piper was left with very little attention and Prue had lost everything. Her trust, her love, and her childhood had almost disappeared entirely.

It just wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that she had lost so many opportunities and possibilities because responsibility for their family rested on her shoulders. The heartache of losing both of her parents as well as Andy and Phoebe wasn't fair. So Patricia Halliwell was going to do what was fair right now and give her daughter the time and space she needed for the next few minutes without adding to her stress, while she, as a mother, stood there with regret that only this small offering was what she could give to her daughter; because she knew that the future was not going to be fair to Prue any time soon. The blessings she had bestowed upon her were not capable of changing how drastically unfair her life had been.

"A prophet," Prue repeated, "But it isn't like other prophecies where a certain time and place is predicted. Like the one about Melinda's birth or the coming of the Charmed ones. It almost seems as if it has either been fulfilled many times or will be fulfilled many times. I always was bad with tenses," she mumbled to herself.

"Well, whose journal is it," Phoebe asked. "I mean, is it possible that she was one of these prophets?"

"You're not going to believe this," Prue said. "It's Phoebe Bowen."

"That's too much of a coincidence," Phoebe said, "for this to not be taken seriously. I mean, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Why doesn't one of you tell us exactly what it is you're thinking," Penny suggested, fed up at having no idea what her granddaughters were talking about.

"What does Aunt Phoebe have to do with this," Patty asked. Prue looked up into her mother's eyes. "She was my past life," Prue answered. "And chances are that since this prophecy talks about reoccurring throughout time and the last known time it happened also happened to my past life—"

"—then the prophecy is attached to your soul," Phoebe interrupted. "Prue is, was, and possibly will be again, a prophet of some kind."

"Well, that's all good in theory," Grams laughed, "but you're forgetting that I knew Phoebe Bowen, as did your mother. If she were a prophet we would know, besides she didn't have the power of premonition. Aunt Phoebe had cryokinesis so obviously you must have made a mistake."

"Mother, I'm sure she didn't make a mistake. Why do you think she had the power of premonition, Prudence?"

"She talks about knowing things before they happened. Apparently, she knew that her cousin Pearl was going to fall in love with a warlock and that's how she was able to get the spell she and their other cousin used to curse her. See here," she showed them, "it's the word aspicio, meaning to see or to contemplate, and here the word physiculo meaning to foresee or divine."

"But what if she doesn't mean she was having premonitions," Phoebe asked. "Could she have been prophesying the event instead?"

"It's possible," Patty said. "Aunt Phoebe did seem to have a way of knowing things. She was the one who suggested that I use the name Prudence, even before I became pregnant. She died the year before you were born."

"You mean I got to name myself and I still got stuck with a name like Prudence," she asked with a grimace. "_What_ was I thinking?"

"Still," Penny said, "none of this explains why you're stuck here or how to get you home and we don't know who this man is that Paige saw in the attic."

"Maybe the ancestors can help," Phoebe suggested. Penny and Patty looked to one another.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** So I'm sorry that I didn't update sooner. I really wanted to add more to this chapter but it seemed determined to be short and sweet. I'm thinking this story arc is going to come to an end soon before the story escalates toward the main plot...killing the source, blooming romance, etc. etc. The good thing is that this story arc was actually a diversion and I had originally wrote about ten chapters and went back in and added the last nine chapters as the story unfolded in my mind, so there're a good four chapters already done. Once I finish up with this subplot I should be able to throw you those chapters really quickly.

* * *

"The only problem with that," Prue said, "is that the ancestors who would be of the most help –Phoebe, Pearl and Priscilla—have all been reincarnated into our present selves. We could use some firsthand experience on the matter but all we're going to get are second hand accounts. I mean, Phoebe and Priscilla didn't even mention the prophecy to Grams or Mom so clearly they wanted to keep it a secret. Lord only knows what they might have done to actually keep it."

"If you weren't here in the astral plane you could cast the past life spell I wrote," Phoebe suggested. "You would have to modify it for yourself but you could find out more about the prophecy from being Phoebe again. We need to work on finding out how to get you back to your body."

"Well," Grams said, "thank the powers that be that the preservation spell we cast is working to keep your body safe until you get back. We still don't know if there's a being out there trying to make its way into your body and now that we know that you're a prophet we have a motive for why this has happened to you. Finding whoever did this to you should be easier; it must be someone with something to gain from all of your divine knowledge as a prophet. Someone who is looking to tap into that power," she expanded on her reasoning.

"So basically anyone," Phoebe said giving her grandmother some lip. "That doesn't exactly narrow down the list of potentials."

"No," Patty agreed, "but it does have to be someone with the ability to hide future knowledge of events because the man Paige saw managed to make her forget about ever seeing him. That takes a lot of psychic ability," she reminded her daughters.

"So the list of things we need to figure out includes," Prue reiterated, "a male with psychic ability, the ability to mask or hide things, and possibly the desire to possess my body to gain access to future knowledge. Who in the Book of Shadows matches that list," she murmured, flipping the pages as she once again forgot about the others in the room.

"And that there are two aspects to the prophecy," Patty reminded everyone. "Not only about your status as a prophet, but also about this ritual that will be performed next month when the sabbat occurs."

"To evoke the Goddess," Grams elaborated, pacing the floor as she tapped a fingertip to her lips. "Could that be why you're stuck here on the astral plane? Someone doesn't want you to figure it out or performing the ritual," she theorized. "But what would evoking the Goddess do to cause such a commotion?"

"Well, if Prue is a prophet," Phoebe began, "and this ritual evokes the Goddess, couldn't we assume that Prue would have more access to divine knowledge during the sabbat? Maybe whoever did this to her doesn't want her to figure out what the Goddess would tell her."

"Bravo," he clapped coming forward and the four women changed stances. Patty immediately moved in front of her daughters, holding them at bay while Penny motioned to throw him into a wall. "Sorry my Dear, but the puny little witch powers you possess are of no consequence to me. I knew you were bright, Prudence, but I didn't think you or your family could put it together so easily. Then again, it was much simpler to keep my presence hidden from you when the lesser psychic was still living and I didn't have to worry about Phoebe tuning in to my energy."

"Hey," Phoebe protested, not liking the idea of being less than Paige.

"You're the shadow being I saw earlier," Prue accused. "You've been here longer than just sticking me in the astral plane."

"That's right," the tall, dark haired man said, moving to sit down before addressing the women again. "I've been watching you ever since Phoebe said the spell to unleash all your powers."

"Because you want to stop the ritual," Phoebe said and moved to her sister's side, taking her hand. "But that's not going to happen."

"On the contrary; I would love nothing more than to see this ritual take place. It's the others you have to worry about," he said rubbing his nails on his shirt before bothering to gaze back in their direction. "Did you really think I would be the only one to know about Prudence's destiny?"

"If you're not here to stop the ritual than why separate Prue from her body," Patricia asked, still wary of this man.

"And while we're on the subject," Grams interjected, "of these beings who don't want the ritual to happen and your unappreciated intervening on Prue's behalf, would you mind introducing yourself? I'd like to know who we're doing business with," she said through suspicious eyes.

Laughing, he rose before heading to the ornate podium that held that Halliwell Book of Shadows. "I guess that's not too much to ask." He held out a hand to Prue and looked her in the eye. "You can call me Ace."

* * *

Piper held Prue's hand. With every minute that passed she became more aware of the possibility that she was going to lose another sister and this time there would be no hidden siblings coming out of the woodwork.

It was the early hours of the morning and Leo was still up with the Elders trying to figure out who could have possibly done this. Paige was napping on the couch and the manor was silent.

Silence. That was all she had to look forward to it seemed. Piper stifled a cry. She had always known that she and her sisters couldn't live together forever, but the idea of losing two sisters and the very real possibility of losing her husband and the ability to have children were infusing her with fear.

She didn't want to be left alone.

* * *

Paige had been so tired that she hadn't even felt her eyes close or her body lean over the arm of the couch. Now, opening her eyes, she yawned and scanned for Piper.

"Piper," she called in a melodic voice, her fingers trailing along the furniture. There was no answer.

No one in the foyer or kitchen, the young novice climbed the staircase making her way to the attic. Something was different. Something just wasn't quite right here. Paige stopped to glance back over her shoulder.

It was like the air was different, as if there were none; no reason to fill lungs, pump blood. Her body seemed lighter and a golden stream of sunlight suddenly brightened the entire house. Paige had only ever felt like this once before, when she had actually been successful at following Leo's directions on meditation. It felt like inner peace; enlightenment.

"_Paige," _the air crackled with newly released energy. Beckoned, Paige followed the voice to her bedroom; to Phoebe's bedroom. Carefully, she pushed the door open and peered through so as not to be surprised.

* * *

Ben sat behind his desk writing checks for various bills. This was not the life he thought he was going to have. Granted, he enjoyed the work and felt a sense of purpose again. He got to use his own business savvy as well as his law degree to make sure everything ran smoothly. It was just a little bit lonely.

Not that he expected any different with Phoebe's death. Her love had awakened his humanity and with her passing he didn't know if he could manage on his own. Prue and Piper had been amazingly accepting and for the first time in his life he knew what it meant to have family.

He didn't want to put them in jeopardy. Ben had thought that once Inspector Lopez had ceased investigating him that he would have room to move around. Eventually a time would come when he would have to stop relying on the sisters, but the visit he received yesterday had set back his plans. Cole Turner was officially the murder suspect in Phoebe's case.

It changed things. Phoebe's case was now high profile since the investigation had grown cold and it seemed federal agents were taking over. The newspaper and local television stations were publicizing the tragic story and new theories were being spread about what really happened that day at 1329 Prescott Street. And now he would have to stick close to the Halliwell family either to protect them, or for his own protection.

He just wondered how long it would be before this investigation destroyed all of them. Ben hoped Prue would find a way back soon. She always knew how to handle things.

* * *

"So why separate me from my body," Prue demanded. "If you want so badly for the ritual to occur then what do you hope to gain from this?"

Ace's eyes burned with desire; desire to see his will done; to gain power over his enemies. "I want an alliance."


End file.
